As the United States threatens to attack Venezuela, some Caribbean allies are offering support. The United States has been amassing military forces and assets in the region since August. It has killed more than 80 people in strikes on boats it alleges are carrying drugs to the United States.

President Donald Trump said in a brief Nov. 29 social media post that airspace around the South American country should be considered closed.

President Trump’s statements on social media less than 24 hours apart showed the dissonance in his campaign against drug trafficking.

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The United States is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, four U.S. officials told Reuters, as the Trump administration escalates pressure on President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Amid Trump’s warning to close Venezuela’s airspace, Caracas faces overwhelming odds against the US superpower. Ranked 50th globally, Venezuela relies on guerrilla tactics, militias, and missile systems to resist,

The Trump administration has accused Maduro of heading the Cartel of the Suns, which it has now added to its terrorist designations list, describing is as a centrally coordinated criminal operation that supports Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel as well as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, both of which the US has also designated as terrorist groups.

Venezuela denounces a warning from US President Donald Trump to consider its airspace closed, calling it a colonialist threat amid rising regional tensions

They discussed a possible meeting between the two of them, but nothing has been scheduled, and the administration continues to increase the military pressure on Venezuela.

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro rallied his supporters on Tuesday during a march in the country’s capital, Caracas.

Here is a timeline of the deteriorating relations between Venezuela and the US since Trump started his second term in January 2025 – and how Washington’s approach towards the South American nation since the late 1990s has led to this moment.