Three U.S. B-52 bomber aircraft flew for hours near the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, ABC News reported on Thursday.
ABC, citing flight tracking data, reported that the three B-52 bombers took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and flew for hours near the coast of Venezuela. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC on Thursday that a special operations aviation unit conducted training exercises in international waters near Venezuela this month.
An unnamed U.S. Global Strike Command spokesperson confirmed to CBS that the bombers flew near Venezuela. CBS, citing tracking data from the flight site Flightradar24, detailed that the planes circled in the Caribbean sea about 150 miles north of Venezuela.
The bombers flew near Venezuela amid rising tensions between the United States and the socialist regime there over the U.S. military presence in Caribbean international waters. President Donald Trump ordered operations there as part of ongoing efforts to combat Latin American drug cartels in the area and curb the flow of drugs entering the United States.
The military operations have so far resulted in several Venezuelan drug-laden vessels struck down in precision strikes since September. Reuters reported on Friday that, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, there were survivors among the crew of a vessel struck on Thursday.
Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and members of his authoritarian regime have repeatedly claimed this month that the U.S. military drug-fighting operations are part of a plot to “invade” Venezuela and oust Maduro from power.
On Thursday, the Maduro regime formally filed a request at the United Nations Security Council to investigate the strike against the drug-vessels that, according to the regime’s ambassador at the U.N. Samuel Moncada, represents a “threat” to the peace in the region. Moncada claimed that 27 individuals have so far died during the precision strikes, asserting that the men onboard were not drug traffickers, but instead regular “fishermen.”
Maduro is actively wanted by U.S. authorities on multiple narco-terrorist charges. U.S courts have long accused Maduro of being a leading member, if not the leader of, the Cartel of the Suns, an international cocaine trafficking operation run by leading members of the Venezuelan socialist regime and the Venezuelan military — whose leadership is subservient to the ruling socialists. The Cartel takes its name from the sun-shaped insignias worn by Venezuelan generals.
The United States has an active $50 million bounty on information that can lead to Maduro’s arrest and/or conviction. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López are also actively wanted by U.S. authorities. Both top regime officials stand accused of being Cartel of the Suns leaders with different narco-terrorism charges.
“President Trump believes that Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate President leading an illegitimate regime that has been trafficking drugs to the United States of America for far too long, and we’re not going to tolerate it,” White House press secretary Karoline Levitt told reporters on Thursday.
On Wednesday, President Trump indicated that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela. Although Trump said he could not give more information, he noted that his administration is exploring the possibility of land strikes in Venezuelan territory. Asked if the CIA was given the authority to “take out” Maduro, President Trump said that it was a ridiculous question to answer.
“Well, I don’t want to tell you exactly, but we are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control. We’ve had a couple of days where there isn’t a boat to be found and that — I view that as a good thing, not a bad thing, but we had tremendous amounts coming in by boats, by very expensive boats,” President Trump reportedly said.
“I authorized for two reasons, really. Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. They came in through the, well, they came in through the border,” Trump explained to reporters. “And the other thing are drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea. So, you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
