Is some form of military escalation between the US and Venezuela imminent?
This comes after Donald Trump has now said that airspace above and around Venezuela should be considered closed. The US has been weighing options to combat what it has portrayed as Venezuela's role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans.
New Delhi: Tensions between the US and Venezuela are now escalating again. In the latest turn of events, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety." Trump did not comment further after this statement, which caused significant tensions in Venezuela.
"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY," Trump said in a Truth Social post. The move comes on the back of other similar pressuring tactics that the Trump administration put on President Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela.
Trump’s warning
Trump’s blanket statement has caused a lot of worry in Venezuela and the uncertainty has been compounded as neither the Pentagon nor the White House has made any further explanation on the comment.
The Venezuelan government condemned Trump's comments, terming them as a "colonialist threat" against their country’s sovereignty and further commenting how that is incompatible with international law. It further added how Trump’s comments "represents a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act, incompatible with the principles of international law."
The Venezuelan government called on the international community to reject this US act of aggression. Iran too for example denounced Trump’s announcement as "a serious breach of international law. As a result of Trump's announcement, a suspension of the migrant deportation flights on which nearly 14,000 Venezuelans have recently returned home from the US commenced.
What is behind the current tensions?
The relationship between the United States and Venezuela has become extremely strained recently. The US has sharply expanded its military footprint in the Caribbean. It has deployed destroyers, a nuclear submarine, and other strike-capable forces near Venezuela.
Since September of this year, the US has also repeatedly launched air and naval strikes on vessels that it has claimed are related to drug operations. The main thrust of the recent US aggression against Venezuela hinges on its claim of the country involved in drug trade that is resulting in drug-related deaths in the US. Thus, the US is claiming its military aggression as a move in response to counter-narcotics.
This the detractors claim is a simplification, as the move is way too aggravated as an anti-drug response. They say that use of long-range bombers and carrier strike groups shows the US intent going way further than being involved in an anti-narcotics operation.
Thus, escalation between the two sides is looking to be more plausible than ever before. Both sides have increased readiness and repeated military activity in close proximity raises the risk of miscalculation. While regional dynamics and international scrutiny may not allow for the conditions to develop to a full-scale war, nonetheless the situation remains fragile and highly volatile.