A new shipment of humanitarian assistance coordinated by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) departed late Friday from the port of La Guaira, carrying more than 7,110 tons of essential supplies and construction materials to support Cuba’s recovery after Hurricane Melissa devastated several eastern provinces.

The cargo, transported aboard the ALBA vessel as part of a sustained humanitarian corridor, includes food containers, heavy machinery, and resources for priority infrastructure works. According to Rander Pena, Venezuela’s Deputy Minister for Latin America and Executive Secretary of ALBA, the delivery consists of 76 containers of food, five backhoes, and materials needed to rehabilitate roads, housing, and public services.

Pena stressed that Venezuela and the regional bloc will continue backing the Cuban people until basic living conditions are fully restored. He highlighted ongoing coordination with President Miguel Diaz-Canel, noting that assistance remains uninterrupted in critical sectors.

He added that Venezuelan technical teams are working alongside Cuban specialists to advance repairs of the electrical grid and assess structural damage caused by the October weather event. Pena also recalled that the ALBA ship transported more than 12,000 tons of supplies to Cuba in recent weeks.

The official reiterated that ALBA’s principles are grounded in solidarity and mutual defense among member nations. Whenever one state faces a humanitarian emergency, he said, allied governments respond with immediate and sustained support.

ALBA-TCP denounces US actions as 'imperial aggression'

In a separate statement, ALBA-TCP issued its strongest condemnation against what it labeled a new “colonial-style threat” from the United States targeting Venezuela’s sovereignty. The bloc criticized US President Donald Trump’s latest declarations on Venezuelan airspace as a “deeply hostile, disproportionate, and illegal act” incompatible with international law.

The organization warned that Washington’s posture forms part of a broader geopolitical agenda aimed at undermining the autonomy and self-determination of Latin American and Caribbean states through military, economic, and diplomatic pressure.

#COMUNICADO || ALBA CONDENA LAS AMENAZAS DEL GOBIERNO DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS CONTRA LA SOBERANÍA DEL ESPACIO AÉREO VENEZOLANO pic.twitter.com/6qp4TVqpVs

— ALBA (@ALBATCP) November 30, 2025

ALBA-TCP accused the US administration of arrogantly seeking extraterritorial jurisdiction over Venezuelan territory and described the move as a provocation against the entire region.

It also called attention to Washington’s unilateral decision to suspend repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants under the “Back to the Homeland” plan, an action that, it argued, deliberately harms families and workers.

According to the statement, “manipulating the migrant crisis as a tool of political blackmail” reveals an aggressive imperial approach that threatens every sovereign state in the hemisphere. Member governments vowed that Latin America and the Caribbean “will not accept any return to imperial tutelage,” asserting that their peoples, inspired by Bolívar, Marti, Sucre, and Sandino, will defend their sovereignty against any attempt at domination.

Trump declares closure of Venezuelan airspace

US President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the airspace over and surrounding Venezuela was to be considered fully closed. 

In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."

This statement followed his remarks two days earlier, on November 27, when he warned that US operations against alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking "by land" would begin very soon. 

During a Thanksgiving video call with US troops, Trump said: "We've almost stopped — it's about 85% stopped by sea. The land is easier, but that's going to start very soon."

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez swiftly condemned the United States’ decision to close airspace over Venezuela, describing it as an illegal act of aggression and a dangerous violation of international law.