WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump declared Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety" in the latest escalation of tensions between Washington and the South American country.

"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY," Trump said via his social media company, Truth Social.

The move comes after months of expanding US military operations across Latin America, deploying Marines, warships, fighter and bomber jets, submarines, and drones amid speculation that Washington could launch an attack on Venezuela.

So far, the US military has carried out 21 attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 people whom the administration has described as “narco-terrorists."

On Thursday, Trump said the US will “very soon” start taking action to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.

It also follows Washington's formal designation of the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, which it accuses the country's President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials of leading.

The Venezuelan government rejected the move as a "ridiculous" plan to designate a "nonexistent" cartel as a terror group.