Civil war could ravage Venezuela if Donald Trump launches a land assault on the country amid flaring tensions, experts have warned.

US air strikes have hit at least 21 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific in recent months, killing over 80, as part of an operation Trump claims is cracking down on the flow of narcotics into America.

Trump has ramped up tensions with Venezuela in recent days after accusing its president, Nicolás Maduro, of leading a drugs cartel and claiming US land action to stop suspected drug traffickers will start “very soon”.

On Saturday, Trump claimed on Truth Social the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela will be closed, in a measure Maduro’s government has dismissed as an illegal “colonialist threat”.

Amid escalating tensions, analysts have told The i Pa

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