Tensions between the United States and Venezuela escalated sharply on Saturday after President Donald Trump announced a “complete” closure of the airspace “over and around” Venezuelan territory.

Declaration comes as Washington conducts large-scale military operations in the Caribbean, involving thousands of personnel and the deployment of its largest aircraft carrier. While U.S. officials frame the mission as an effort to curb drug trafficking into the United States, Caracas argues it is a direct attempt to destabilize the government of Nicolás Maduro. 

Trump issued the message through his social media platform Truth Social, warning: “To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers: please be advised that the airspace over Venezuela and its surroundings will remain entirely closed.”

Venezuelan Foreign Ministry immediately condemned the announcement, calling it a “colonialist threat” designed to undermine the country’s sovereignty and describing it as an “extravagant, illegal, and unjustified act of aggression against the Venezuelan people.” 

The few destinations still operating include Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Cuba, Curacao, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados.

U.S. airspace shutdown is not only disrupting commercial routes but also halting deportation and repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants. According to Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry, the United States has “unilaterally suspended” the regular flights conducted under the Return to the Homeland Plan.

By Caracas’ count, 75 flights had returned 13,956 Venezuelans to the country before the suspension. 

When the airlines did not comply, INAC revoked those rights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded both inside the country and abroad. According to Spanish news agency EFE, weekly flights to and from Venezuela dropped by 24.7%, falling from 105 to 79. 

Flight disruptions deepen Venezuela’s isolation 

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a safety alert urging airlines to exercise caution within Venezuelan airspace due to worsening security conditions and increasing military activity in and around the country.

The advisory warned that existing threats could pose risks to aircraft “at all altitudes,” including during overflights, arrivals, departures, and ground operations. 

The alert prompted several major airlines — including Iberia, Air Europa, Avianca, Latam Colombia, Turkish Airlines, Gol, TAP and Plus Ultra — to suspend flights connected to Venezuela.

In response, the Venezuelan National Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC) gave these companies a 48-hour deadline to resume operations under threat of losing their traffic rights.

Venezuela’s state-owned airline Conviasa continues to offer flights to China, Russia and Cuba. Yet the withdrawal of the remaining international carriers has deepened the country’s long-standing isolation from global air networks. 

A real-time glance at Flightradar24 on Saturday and Sunday showed only a handful of aircraft over Venezuelan territory, most of them domestic or private flights. 

Copa Airlines of Panama announced that it would maintain its two daily flights between Tocumen and Caracas but only during daytime hours. The Colombian low-cost carrier Wingo also confirmed that it would continue operating. 

Messages coming from Washington have grown increasingly contradictory. Two days before the airspace announcement, Trump warned he would soon begin detaining “drug traffickers” from Venezuela “on land,” a statement made during a virtual address to the U.S. Armed Forces for Thanksgiving. 

Caracas has strongly rejected the classification. Venezuela’s Interior and Justice Minister, Diosdado Cabello, has long dismissed the accusation as an “invention.” 

Analysts in the United States have speculated that Trump’s airspace announcement could foreshadow targeted airstrikes.

As both governments intensify their rhetoric, the region faces one of the most volatile moments in years, with diplomatic channels strained and military maneuvers raising fears of a broader confrontation.