In short

• Donald Trump announces the closure of airspace over Venezuela, which is met with a sharp reaction from the country's authorities.
• Venezuela condemns the American president's statements, calling them a"colonial threat" and a violation of international law.
• The US administration is conducting military operations against Venezuelan smugglers in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, increasing tensions between the countries.

"All airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please take note: The airspace over Venezuela will be closed. Thank you for your attention. President Donald Trump" - the American politician wrote on the Truth Social platform on Saturday.

The words"consider to be closed," used by the US president, can be treated as if the decision to close airspace has taken effect. Fox News, among others, interprets the president's words this way. Reuters, in turn, capitalizing Trump's post, reports that the decision is still to be made.

Venezuela responds to Donald Trump:"We condemn"

Venezuela responded to the American leader's words a few hours later. The government issued a statement condemning the US president's words, Reuters reports.

His earlier comments were called a" colonial threat" against the country's sovereignty. Venezuela stressed that such statements are inconsistent with international law.

In turn, during a meeting with American soldiers on the occasion of Thanksgiving, Donald Trump announced that operations against Venezuelan smugglers would no longer be limited to sea and air.

- We will start stopping them also by land - said Donald Trump, referring to Venezuelan drug traffickers.

Tensions between Venezuela and the U.S.: Americans attack ships in the eastern Pacific

As reported by USA Today News, the Trump administration has attacked at least 21 boats traveling in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific since early September.

A total of 83 people were reportedly killed in the attacks, many of them Venezuelans. Administration officials claimed the boats were trying to transport drugs to the United States, although they did not provide evidence, the website reports.

The US has officially designated the Cartel de los Soles, an organization allegedly led by President Nicolas Maduro, as a foreign terrorist organization.

The campaign conducted by the Donald Trump administration has been met with sharp criticism from legal circles, which question the legality of using military force instead of intercepting suspicious individuals.