1st LD Writethru: Trump says Venezuela airspace should be considered closed in its entirety

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered closed "in its entirety."

"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social without elaboration.

The remarks were made amid heightening tensions in the relations between the United States and Venezuela.

Since early September, the United States has carried out more than 20 known military strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 80 people. The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean was further strengthened in mid-November with the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, a major aircraft carrier, to a level unseen in at least three decades.

In his Thanksgiving remarks to U.S. troops on Thursday night, Trump suggested that the United States could "very soon" take action by land against drug trafficking networks in Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denied any involvement in drug trafficking, accusing the United States of "fabricating" a pretext for forcing a regime change in Venezuela.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday that Trump and Maduro spoke by phone last week, discussing the possibility of an in-person meeting in the United States, though no arrangements have been made.

Last week, the U.S. aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, issued a warning to major airlines flying over Venezuela, highlighting dangers from a "potentially hazardous situation" due to a "worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around" the South American country. Enditem