US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the airspace above and near Venezuela should be considered closed, the latest escalation in a standoff with leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network, "please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."

The US president did not elaborate.

Trump's administration is piling pressure on Venezuela, with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world's largest aircraft carrier.

Washington says the aim is to curb drug trafficking, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal.

US forces have carried out strikes against more than 20 alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels in the

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