Caracas: The Venezuelan government condemned US President Donald Trump's announcement that the airspace over Venezuela and its surrounding areas would be completely closed, describing it as a 'colonial threat.'
According to Qatar News Agency, Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Venezuela denounces and condemns the colonial threat that seeks to undermine the sovereignty of its airspace, as it constitutes a new, provocative, unlawful, and unjustified act of aggression against the Venezuelan people.
The statement added that Venezuela categorically rejects the statement published by Trump on social media, noting that Trump is issuing orders and threatening the sovereignty of Venezuelan national airspace, the integrity of the country's territory, its air security, and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state.
The Ministry considered that this type of statement constitutes a unilateral hostile act, contradicts the most basic principles of international law, and comes within the framework of a continuous aggressive policy against Venezuela.
On Truth Social, President Trump on Saturday said that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered as "closed in its entirety."
The US President accuses Venezuela of colluding in the drug trade that is flooding the American market, an accusation Venezuela has repeatedly denied.
For months, US forces have been carrying out airstrikes targeting boats believed to be transporting drugs in the Caribbean region.
President Trump informed a group of military personnel this week that the United States would begin very soon ground operations to stop the suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.