Two US Navy F/A-18 fighter jets were spotted by flight trackers on Tuesday flying deep inside the Gulf of Venezuela, a body of water surrounded by Venezuelan territory on three sides, marking the latest US provocation amid threats of a potential regime change war aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The flight appears to be the closest US aircraft has gotten to Venezuela’s coast since the US military began its major buildup in the Caribbean a few months ago. Since October, US bombers have regularly flown to the north of Venezuela’s coast, and F/A-18s have begun flights near the country since the USS Gerald Ford, the US’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean last month.
A US military official confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that the US sent two fighter jets into the Gulf of Venezuela, a significant escalation that the official framed as a “routine training flight.” The official declined to say whether or not the F/A-18s were armed.
According to a report from The War Zone, a pair of Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets were also flying north of the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, and an MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance drone flew farther out in the Caribbean. “The combination of F/A-18s and EA-18Gs, with the latter flying in a standoff position, is exactly what one would expect to see during actual strikes on targets in Venezuela,” the report said.
Amid the threats of President Trump launching a war with Venezuela, bipartisan War Powers Resolutions have been introduced in both the House and the Senate to block any military action against the country without congressional authorization.
The Trump administration has also been under increasing scrutiny over its bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the region and is under pressure to release the video of the September 2 attack that involved multiple strikes on one small vessel to kill survivors.
