Two US fighter jets circle Gulf of Venezuela in escalation of hostilities | US military
Two US warplanes circled the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday in what appeared to be an escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing hostility towards the South American country and its leftist leader Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuelans and South American media Tracked flights in real time using websites such as FlightRadar24Footage showing a pair of F/A-18 Super Hornets flying together for nearly 40 minutes toward the narrow Gulf of Venezuela. Jets flew just north From Maracaibo, the most populous city in Venezuela.
FlightRadar24, the flights site Most viewed in a tweet.
A pair of Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets also flew just north of the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday. By War Zone.
Venezuela claims the gulf as part of its national territory. However, the United States has historically Venezuela’s definitions challenged They say their borders fall within international waters and airspace.
The Ministry of Defense downplayed the development in a statement to the Guardian.
“The Department conducts routine, lawful operations in international airspace, including the Gulf of Venezuela,” a Pentagon official wrote. “We will continue to fly safely, professionally and in accordance with international law to protect the homeland, monitor illegal activity and promote stability in the Americas.”
The reported flights took place amid rising tensions between the two countries over the Trump administration’s rebranding of drug traffickers as enemy combatants. Trump’s military campaign against accused international drug traffickers has killed some so far 87 people off the coast of Latin America countries.
Critics view these military operations as little more than illegal, extrajudicial killings. A recent attack that killed two survivors of a U.S. attack on a suspected narkov ship led many members of Congress to condemn defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who said that attacking defenseless targets that pose no threat is constitute a war crime.
Trump said Maduro’s “days are numbered” in an interview published on Politico on Tuesday. He also reiterated his promise to expand the military campaign against drug traffickers into Venezuelan territory, saying “we will hit them on the ground very soon.”
