- Trump warns against flying over Venezuela.
- Administration intensifies drug trafficking operations.
- Targets key drug trafficking organizations.
As he considers ground strikes, the president instructed "all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers," in a social media post on November 29, to avoid the flying zones "above and surrounding" the South American nation.
The State Department has classified the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist association, and judges believe the Trump administration may erect Maduro, the chairman of Venezuela. As a result, pressures are rising in the region.
About 12,000 colors are posted in the vicinity of Venezuela, where the United States has deposited its largest aircraft carrier, two guided bullet destroyers, and a special operations boat.
Trump didn't deploy any action in his various Social posts, and he has no governance over Venezuelan airspace. However, he made it clear this week that he intends to build on his contentious boat strikes against alleged drug smugglers.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the drug is responsible for around 48,000 deaths and can be lethal in amounts as tiny as a few grains of sand.
However, analysts have noted that Venezuela is not a source of fentanyl and that it contributes very little to the flow of other narcotics into the United States, making up only a small portion of the cocaine that is primarily imported from Mexico.
"We’ll be starting to stop them by land also,"
Trump said during a call with military service members.
"The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon."
Nevertheless, the Trump administration has continued to assault at least 21 vessels traveling through international waters, killing 83 people, many of them Venezuelans. Without offering the public or Congress any proof, administration officials have claimed that those boats were trying to transport drugs into the United States.
According to several former law enforcement, military, and legal experts, the strikes are unlawful and constitute extrajudicial killings. The strikes "violate international human rights law," according to Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."
What are the legal limits on a US president closing foreign airspace?
Chicago Convention Article 3bis prohibits using munitions against civil aircraft without UN Security Council approval, limiting U.S. options to tactfulness or coalitions. Venezuela's retribution highlights pitfalls of escalation without legal backing, rendering Trump's rhetoric emblematic pressure rather than binding action.
The chairman can impact via Federal Aviation Administration( FAA) advisories, similar as NOTAMs warning of hazards like military exertion, which urged six airlines to suspend Venezuela breakouts before Caracas abandoned their rights. FAA restrictions apply to U.S. drivers but can not dictate foreign airspace check; violations threaten airman penalties under U.S. regulations, not transnational coercion.
Presidential powers under Composition II include warrants, designations( e.g., Maduro's Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist reality), and military deployments like Operation Southern Spear, inhibiting breakouts economically or through perceived pitfalls.