Illustrative image. (USAF/Staff Sgt. William Rio Rosado)
United States bombers flew close to Venezuela on October 15, just a day after United States President Donald Trump announced another strike on a boat alleged to be trafficking drugs off the coast of the country.
Trump said that the boat was “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” without providing any evidence backing his claims.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed.”
This is at least the fifth time Trump has announced such a strike since September; the Pentagon announced another one separately early on in October. At least 21 people were killed in previous strikes.
Tensions have been on the rise between Venezuela and the U.S. since August, when the Trump administration doubled the reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million on drug trafficking charges then deployed a naval force with thousands of marines close to the country’s shores on a so-called “counter narco-terror operation”.
Less than 24 hours after Trump announced the latest strike, two B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force were observed flying inside the Maiquetía Flight Information Region (FIR) north of the Venezuelan Los Roques archipelago.
The bombers appeared on open-source flight tracking sites. They circled within the Venezuelan-controlled FIR before briefly disappearing from the sites then reappearing as they continued south. From there, they flew closer to La Orchila and Gran Roque, both Venezuelan islands with military facilities.
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- Click to see full-size image. (Flightradar24)
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- Click to see full-size image. (Flightradar24)
Since the start of the tensions with Venezuela, many in Washington have been very open about their desire to see a regime change in Caracas as a result of the counter narco-terror operation.
Recent reports said that Trump was getting closer to ordering strikes against drug related targets on Venezuelan territories.
Venezuela, from its side, has been preparing for an all-out invasion. Its military has already mobilized thousands, deployed air defenses, and conducted a series of exercises focused on rapid evacuation and decentralization. Obstacles were also spotted on some of the key highways leading to the capital.
While the U.S. stands to gain a lot from a regime change in Caracas, as Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, an invasion could easily turn into another forever war.
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expected from feminine weak humiliated americunt bullies
venezuela will become a failed country & real narcostate if the us attacks. trump may topple maduro but any handpicked regime by the us will eventually lose control of the situation, there’ll be a civil war. us troops will be needed in the ground. those pitiful 4500 marines won’t be enough. venezuela’s a jungle over 2x bigger than iraq & with 30 million people, with porous borders with colombia & brazil. druglords ,gangs from colombia will be the biggest winners