On November 29, U.S. President Trump announced that he had ordered the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela “closed in its entirety.” The United States has no legal authority to close Venezuelan air traffic. This unilateral declaration, issued without U.S. Congressional or United Nations approval, constitutes a brazen escalation of military aggression and a violation of both the U.S. Constitution and international law.
The U.S. Peace Council condemns the illegal imposition of a no-fly zone, calls for all member states of the United Nations to unify to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty by resisting this latest aggression, and demands that the U.S. Congress deny the Trump administration any funds to carry out any aspect of war, kinetic, diplomatic, or economic, on Venezuela.
The USPC further calls on all nations to respect the Zone of Peace declared for Latin America and the Caribbean by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014.
The U.S. has continually attacked Venezuela since the inception of the Bolivarian Revolution a quarter-century ago. In 2002, a U.S.-backed military coup temporarily ousted then President Hugo Chávez before the Venezuelan people rose up and reinstated him.
Washington has persistently interfered in the internal affairs of Venezuela, pouring millions of dollars to rig elections. Yet, the perpetually divided and unpopular US-fostered opposition is more isolated and discredited than ever. Washington has increasingly resorted to violence to achieve what it could not accomplish through economic and political intervention, including unilateral sanctions- illegal under international law- and election interference.
Every attempt at regime change has failed- from backing astroturfed opposition figures like Juan Guaidó and María Corina Machado, to the 2020 CIA-backed “Operation Gideon” plot to kidnap President Maduro, and the use of bogus diplomacy fronts such as the Lima Group. Despite their failure to overthrow Venezuelan sovereignty, these interventions have inflicted untold suffering on the Venezuelan population.
In 2015, U.S. President Obama falsely declared Venezuela an “extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, a baseless position. This declaration empowered further aggression by the United States against Venezuela.
Each subsequent U.S. president has expanded this economic warfare to steal Venezuelan assets and to isolate Venezuela from global trade and international finance. The Venezuelan economy initially went into freefall, but with help from international partners, Venezuelans have recently begun to reverse the economic decline.
The currently escalating U.S. offensive against Venezuela —including its evidence-free drug-smuggling charges and its murderous bombing of fishing boats—testifies to the failure of Washington’s regime-change campaign.
December 2, 2025
