The Venezuelan government denounced President Trump’s Saturday statement urging the closure of the airspace above Venezuela.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Venezuela replied that those comments violate international law and amount to a “colonialist threat” against its sovereignty. The Venezuelan statement said: “No authority outside the Venezuelan institutional framework has the power to interfere with, block, or condition the use of international airspace.”
As of Sunday afternoon, Flightradar24 showed planes still flying in Venezuelan airspace.
The public exchange follows announcements that the Senate and House Armed Services committees will investigate the Pentagon after a Washington Post report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of all crew members aboard a boat suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean in September. NPR has confirmed the Washington Post’s reporting.
U.S. forces have carried out at least 21 strikes and, according to reports, killed at least 82 people on alleged drug boats as part of “Operation Southern Spear,” a campaign the Trump administration says targets drug trafficking.
Venezuela’s statement also cited Article 2, paragraph 4 of the U.N. Charter, arguing that such remarks represent an explicit use of force prohibited under international law.
Democrats have sharply criticized the administration’s approach, saying the military did not have sufficient evidence that the boats carried drugs before conducting strikes. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told ABC’s This Week that the actions could amount to a “war crime” and said Defense Secretary Hegseth should be held accountable. “They’ve never presented the public with the information they’ve got here,” Van Hollen said. “But it could be worse than that, right? If that theory is wrong, then it’s plain murder.”
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt, a member of the Armed Services Committee, told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that Trump is acting “well within his Article 2 powers” in efforts to curb drug smuggling by striking the boats. “I think it’s a two part strategy,” Schmitt said. “One is to get rid of the precursors that are coming from China, and then take out the cartels that are distributing this and bringing it to the United States of America.”
Members of both parties in Congress have expressed frustration that the administration ordered strikes without seeking legislative approval. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X that “Trump’s reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war.” Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, once an ally of Trump, reminded followers that “Congress has the sole power to declare war.”