President Donald Trump has warned airlines and other aircraft operators to “consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY” in an overnight social media post amid speculation the U.S. is stepping up military action against the South American country. Trump, of course, has no authority to close any other country’s airspace, but most operators got the message last week when the FAA issued a NOTAM telling them to avoid the Maiquetia Flight Information Region because “heightened military activity” near Venezuela. Flight tracking video shows operators steering clear of the country except for a few operated by Venezuelan carriers.
Meanwhile, Venezuela is trying to put on a brave face by telling international carriers that cancel flights to Caracas to not bother coming back. It revoked the flight permits for Iberia, TAP, Turkish Airlines, Avianca, Latam Colombia, and Gol on Thursday after they failed to resume flights under a 48-hour deadline from the government of Nicolas Maduro. “The national government, in a sovereign decision, told the companies: if you do not resume flights in 48 hours, do not resume them any more. You keep your planes and we will keep our dignity,” said Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
Trump posted this on Truth Social, and Reuters says nobody on his own team knew it was coming. Not the cabinet, not the CIA, not the Pentagon, not the NSC. No briefing. No heads-up. They saw it when we did.
Then comes the post: “To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers, please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety.” That is the whole thing. No context. No backup.
And a “closed” FIR is not casual language. It is a signal, and people with fighters, ships, and radar scopes move the moment they hear it. It even had a little Dr. Strangelove in it.
I do recall reading somewhere “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. What now?
I want to see Maj. “Bonespurs” Kong ride the first bomb we drop on Maduro. Consider it a two-fer.
“Reuters says”…
No need to read any further.
I don’t know what is worst, a President of the United States issuing a statement with no real authority (close to internationally illegal) or that world airlines so quickly capitulate with no clear understanding of why or what action occurs if they don’t. Give into a bully and you just give the weak brained bully more sense of power.
This is no defense of Maduro, but unless Venezuela, the government, actually committed and act of war against the US (drug cartels do not count), any action of aggression by the US should be seen as its own aggression and condemned. Congress declares war, not Pete, not even Trump and the more bodies die in Pete’s orders, the more he and Trump need to be held accountable, at least to Congress.
Consider
on one hand Trump orders “blow up the drug boats, I hate drug runners”
On the other “I’ll pardon a convicted drug runner because…money for me”
On one hand, no flights to Venezuela
On the other hand, but we need to continue deportation flights to Venezuela.
This is not a sane person.
The airlines capitulated because they are afraid that one of their planes full of innocent civilians would get shot down by some trigger-happy soldier on either side of this mess. That has happened at least three times in the last 30 years around the globe. Trump, who campaigned on the need for the U.S. to get out of interfering with foreign conflicts and end any “nation building” activities, now seems to be hell-bent in doing just that. You don’t move a carrier task force into a region to chase drug smugglers – a move that has cost the American taxpayers an estimated billion dollars so far. What’s the end game here? Congress needs to grow a backbone and remind the blogger in chief that they are the ones that would declare war on a foreign country, not him.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers, please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety.”
And considering recent illegal, hostile actions from our military sycophants, Walter Winchell just rolled over and reminded us that even “all the ships at sea” are in danger from this beserk madman.
And strangely…”please consider the airspace…” or, what, I’ll show you both of my alien hands?
Great analogy Raf, from a great movie.
All part of his campaign to get a Nobel Peace Prize next year….
You win the internet today Ron, I really appreciated a spontaneous laugh. Thanks, and blue skies.
… or a Pulitzer for “Best Implementation of a Novel – 1984”.
In my opinion, this declaration is an extension of our already illegal violence in the Caribbean and Pacific: Under law, Trump cannot “declare war” against anyone without Congressional approval. Further, we cannot use force against a non-state actor such as drug cartels unless it is a necessary response to an armed attack against us by that actor, and our response must be proportional to that attack. At worst, these boats are drug smugglers (and some may have been human traffickers) — we have no death penalty for drug smuggling or human trafficking. Like it or not, that’s the law, and we’re violating it in a manner that can only be considered extrajudicial murder. Furthermore, if it’s true Hedgseth ordered “no survivors”, even if we were at war, that would be the quintessential example of a war crime.
The British have suspended sharing intelligence with us over this matter, and civilized countries are looking on in disgust. Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize seems to be drifting away.
Contrary to the TDS comments, no war has been declared, no shots fired at or in Venezuela of its territorial waters. Opinions regarding international law or limits on presidential power are just that, opinions from other lay folks. Trump is clearly trying to depose Maduro who is a proven international criminal guilty of mass murder, election theft, promoting drug trade, the list goes on and on while ruining a once prosperous country which is now in ruins. The rest of the world has turned it back on this barbarian monster and apparently only Trump has the guts to call things out and push for deposing a criminal dictator. The US regularly executes show of force military actions to quell or discourage such behavior everywhere in the world. Ditto goes for drug interdiction. Trump is doing something that is long overdue regarding really going after the drug trade in the only ways the cartels understand. Expect more of the same. Anyone who thinks there is any doubt regarding the intel and evidence leading up to the destruction of drug transports simply has no clue regarding the intelligence network that provides the actionable information.
I heard “Trump…criminal dictator…”
“Opinions regarding international law or limits on presidential power are just that, opinions from other lay folks.”
Any 9th grader can do some basic research on what the law says. You should try it yourself.
One of major issues of our deeply divided two party system is that we are terribly lazy constituents. Even in the face of the obvious, the Rs and Ds defend at all costs. It has sadly become such a team (or family) sport that flagrant fouls are ignored and no one ever gets benched and held accountable. I would argue that we as citizens, if aligned with a political party, have a greater responsibility to hold our own (for lack of better phrase) accountable than we do for the ‘team’ we do not align with. But it seems we fall further into the trap of being in the D family or the R family and simply look at those in D.C. as or children, like a mother who looks at her children while wearing rose colored glasses.
And that’s what THEY want.