THE United States faced condemnation from activists and the international community today for its “colonial arrogance” after announcing that Venezuelan air space is now closed.

President Donald Trump insisted on Saturday that the air space “above and surrounding” the South American country should be considered “closed in its entirety.”

Posting on Truth Social, he addressed his call for an aerial blockade to “Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” rather than to Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

The US has accused Mr Maduro and his administration of involvement in drug trafficking, though without providing evidence.

A statement from Caracas said it strongly condemned Washington’s attempt to “apply the illegitimate jurisdiction of the US extraterritorially in Venezuela.

The Foreign Ministry said that Mr Trump had “attempted to give orders and threaten the sovereignty of the national air space, territorial integrity, aeronautical security and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state,” adding that “such declarations constitute a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act.”

But the Communist Party of Uruguay (PCU) described the US president’s decision as “illegal and irresponsible,” warning that it “further aggravates tensions in the Caribbean, where the US has already deployed a military force of enormous destructive power.”

The PCU said the White House had also given the green light for the CIA to carry out covert actions within Venezuelan territory and murdered around 80 people in attacks on boats in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla described Mr Trump’s declaration as an “aggressive act for which no state has authority outside its national borders” and urged the international community to “denounce the prelude to an illegitimate attack.

“It is a very serious threat to international law and an increase in the escalation of military aggression and psychological warfare against the Venezuelan people and government, with incalculable and unpredictable consequences for peace, security and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baqai described the US action as “illegal” and an “arbitrary act” that “threatens the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela.”

He argued that the announcement had “dangerous consequences” for the rule of law, peace and security worldwide.

The Trump adminstration does not view Mr Maduro as the legitimate leader of the oil-rich nation and he faces charges of narcoterrorism in the US.

US forces have conducted numerous bomber flights near Venezuela and the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, has been sent to the area with around a dozen navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and marines.