By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Saturday has ramped up his campaign against Venezuela, declared the airspace closed, signaled possible military action against the county days after he spoke directly with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro
He said, “Please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY” on Truth Social Post Saturday afternoon
He warned “Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers”, linked possible action to his campaign against illegal migration and his war on drugs besides airlines and pilots.
US has been bombing on high seas vessels suspected of carrying drugs, hit over 20 from the air and killed over 80 people.
He earlier said, “We’ll be starting to stop them by land”.
“Also, the land (action) is easier, but that’s going to start very soon”, he added in his Thanksgiving Day message to the military.
Venezuela said Trump’s declaration that its airspace is closed reeked of colonialism and was “hostile and unjustified”.
The region has seen the US Navy ships led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, and 15,000 military personnel have been deployed there.
Media quoting anonymous sources, reported that Trump and Maduro had spoken by phone and discussed a direct meeting, among other matters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is among the hawks on Maduro’s rule, was also on the call, the media reports said.
The White House nor Venezuela has confirmed the talks, it said.
Media reports said Maduro had offered the US access to its oil riches and other concessions, but insisted he should be allowed to retain power for 2 years a condition Trump is unlikely to agree to.
US designated a drug outfit, Cartel de los Soles, as a foreign terrorist organization, and alleged that Maduro was its head.
Trump claimed that any action against Maduro and Venezuela was an anti-drug action, and, therefore, technically not a war.
He made statements against foreign wars and regime change, and he would not be seen as a warmonger, endangered his claims to a Nobel Prize.
Trump said he would not need the legally mandated Congressional approval required for a war.
Democratic Party Senate leader Chuck Schumer reminded him, “Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war not the president”.
“President Trump’s reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war”, he added.
