Caption: Wayne Sturge
DEFENCE Minister Wayne Sturge says Trinidad and Tobago’s airspace remains “fully open” and that all commercial flights are operating as normal, despite an online declaration by US President Donald Trump that airspace over and around Venezuela is “completely closed.”
Trump’s statement, posted on X on Saturday and addressed to “Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” raised immediate concern across the southern Caribbean about possible disruption to regional air routes and aviation security.
In a release on Saturday, Sturge said there has been no impact on Trinidad and Tobago’s airspace or flight operations and dismissed talk of a shutdown as politically driven disinformation.
“There is no such disruption,” Sturge said, adding that the Ministry of Defence would issue official updates if circumstances change. He s said, “Members of the public should ignore the fearmongering being created by politically aligned social media influencers whose agenda is to create chaos and instability.”
Sturge said, “Misinformation circulating on social media” had falsely claimed that Trinidad and Tobago had closed its airspace in response to Trump’s announcement. He stressed that all local, regional and international commercial flights continue to operate as scheduled.
The Ministry of Defence “assures the travelling public that commercial flights—local, regional, and international—continue to operate normally,” the release stated.
