Two U.S. military fighter jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela amid President Trump’s continued pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter planes flew over the gulf in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, spending over half an hour in the area, according to Flightradar24 data.
The training flights appear to be the closest that U.S. military planes have gotten to Venezuela’s airspace since the Trump administration intensified its rhetoric against Maduro and amassed a massive military presence in the U.S. Southern Command area in recent months.
In recent weeks, the U.S. military has dispatched B-1 Lancer bombers and B-52 Stratofortress bombers in the area, having the planes fly along the coast of Venezuela.
The flights come as the U.S. has established a massive military armada in the Southcom area, sending fighter jets, spy planes, Marines, warships and other military assets. At the same time, the Trump administration has continued to strike alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
The Trump administration has conducted more than 20 strikes against purported drug-smuggling vessels, killing at least 87 “narco-terrorists.”
Maduro has argued that the U.S. military buildup in the region is part of the U.S. plan to oust the Venezuelan strongman. The Trump administration has said that the boat strikes are necessary to prevent the flow of illegal narcotics in the region and to protect the U.S.