Washington. President Donald Trump said that the entire airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered ‘completely closed’. He did not explain what this meant or what further steps would be taken, but it is clear that America is now openly increasing pressure on Venezuela. Trump has already indicated several times that the US Navy is attacking suspected ‘drug boats’ in the Caribbean and Pacific and that the action may extend to land in the future. Colombian guerrilla organizations, particularly the ELN, are active in western areas of Venezuela. Colectivos from the ruling party roam around in motorcycle squads and intimidate protesters. The opposition alleges that some military units are linked to drug cartels. The Maduro government always rejects these allegations and says that the US wants ‘regime change’ to take over Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Interestingly, the same Trump had also talked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on phone a few weeks ago and Maduro’s visit to Washington was also discussed. That means the relationship is swinging between confrontation and negotiation.
The impact of the statement given by US President Donald Trump regarding Venezuelan airspace is also clearly visible. According to data from Flight Radar 24, Venezuelan airspace is completely empty. All commercial planes are avoiding its airspace. Several hours after Trump’s threat, a Cuban jet entered Venezuelan air space. The question arises whether America can attack Venezuela?
The reality is that Venezuela’s military force is very small and weak compared to the US army. According to Reuters report, years of poor training, old weapons, equipment purchased from Russia but now dilapidated, all these have weakened the Venezuelan army from within. Maduro has been giving government posts to officers to maintain military loyalty, but salaries for field-level soldiers are barely $100 a month, about one-fifth of a family’s needs. Experts say that if America attacks, the stampede and desertion may increase significantly. The soldiers who have the experience of fighting, that too not with armed enemies but with the common protesters who took to the streets in the last years. According to leaked military documents, the Maduro government is working on two strategies. If the US launches an air or ground attack, Venezuela will disperse small military units to more than 280 locations. That means sabotaging the entire country, small ambushes, and creating chaos in the cities. 5,000 Russian Igla missiles have already been deployed. In this, the Intelligence Agency and armed supporters of the ruling party will deliberately create chaos in the capital Caracas, so that the city can be made ‘ungovernable’. The government has not acknowledged this publicly, but several senior security sources confirm it.