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In this file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference in Caracas in September. - AP PHOTOTHE Venezuelan government has denounced and condemned what it called "the colonialist threat" that seeks to affect the sovereignty of its airspace, describing it as a new extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.
A statement issued by the Nicolás Maduro-led administration on November 29 said Venezuela repudiates with absolute force the public message disseminated hours earlier on social media by US President Donald Trump.
Maduro accused Trump of attempting to "extraterritorially apply the illegitimate jurisdiction of the US in Venezuela by unprecedentedly trying to give orders and threaten the sovereignty of the national airspace, territorial integrity, aeronautical security, and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan State."
"This type of statement constitutes a hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act, incompatible with the most basic principles of International Law and part of a permanent policy of aggression against our country, with colonial ambitions over our region of Latin America and the Caribbean, denying International Law," the statement said.
It added that Venezuela "denounces before the world" that such statements represent an explicit threat of the use of force, clearly and unequivocally prohibited by Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations.
Earlier in the day, via X (formerly Twitter), Trump called on all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers to "please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety."
Trump's message sparked reports of TT's airspace also being affected prompting Defence Minister Wayne Sturge to say commercial airlines will not face any disruptions in Trinidad and Tobago's airspace.
In a media release issued on November 29, Sturge described an uptick in social media chatter by people expressing concern over US President Donald Trump’s post on X as “misinformation” and “fearmongering being created by politically aligned social media influencers whose agenda is to create chaos and instability.”
In response to Trump's message, the Venezuelan government added, "This attempt at intimidation also violates Article 1 of the Charter, which establishes the maintenance of international peace and security as a fundamental purpose."
"Venezuela demands unrestricted respect for its airspace, protected under the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and reaffirmed in the 1944 Chicago Convention."
It referred to Article 1 which "categorically recognises that 'each state has exclusive and absolute sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.'"
The Bolivarian government warned that Venezuela will not accept orders, threats, or interference from any foreign power.
"No authority outside of Venezuelan institutions has the power to interfere with, block, or condition the use of national airspace," the statement said.
"Through this action, the US government has unilaterally suspended the Venezuelan migrant flights that were regularly and weekly being carried out as part of the repatriation of Venezuelans through the Plan Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland Plan). To date, 75 flights have been carried out for the repatriation of 13,956."
Several airlines recently halted flights to Venezuela after the US aviation regulator issued a warning about "heightened military activity" in the region.
The warning came as the US increased pressure on the Venezuelan government, deploying the warships in the southern Caribbean as part of a broader military build-up.
The US has repeatedly said the build-up was part of the narco-terrorism fight in the region.
Maduro and other officials have always denied any involvement in crime and have accused the US of trying to oust the South American country's regime.
Meanwhile, on his Telegram account, also on November 29, Maduro posted: "We have a glorious and unique history; we were free because we were united under a single command."
"Have absolute certainty that the times of the Greater Homeland will return, sooner rather than later, to shine and ensure the emancipation of oppressed peoples."
English (US) ·