Watch: Trump says he will open all commercial airspace over Venezuela

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has told Venezuelan Leader Delcy Rodriguez that he will open all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

Watch the clip in the video player above.

Trump said on Thursday that he had instructed US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and US military commanders to open the airspace by the end of the day.

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The Republican president said: “Very soon American citizens will be able to go to Venezuela, and they will be safe there.”

Earlier this week, the Republican Trump administration notified Congress that it was taking the first steps to reopen the shuttered U.S. embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country in the wake of the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolas Maduro.

In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it would send a regular and growing contingent of temporary staff to conduct “select” diplomatic missions.

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“We are writing to notify the Committee of the State Department’s intent to implement a phased approach to resuming embassy operations in Caracas,” the department said in separate but identical letters to 10 House and Senate committees.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries collapsed in 2019, and the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to Venezuela, raising the travel advisory to the highest level.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday still listed a travel advisory for Venezuela at its highest level, “Do Not Travel,” warning that Americans face a high risk of wrongful detention, torture, kidnapping and more.