The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino López, denounced on Thursday the presence of U.S. combat aircraft that, he claimed, flew near the Venezuelan coasts in the Caribbean Sea, which he described as a “provocation” and “a serious threat to the nation's security.”
I denounce to the world the military harassment, the military threat from the Government of the United States against the people of Venezuela; I denounce to the world this situation which, I repeat, is not only a provocation but also a threat to our national security, stated Padrino López during an operational review of the Armed Forces broadcast on the state channel VTV.
The minister noted that the Venezuelan air defense system detected U.S. combat aircraft, whose presence was “confirmed and verified”, even —according to him— by an international airline that notified the control tower at Maiquetía airport about the proximity of the aircraft.
“We have never seen this deployment of aircraft. We know they are stationed in Puerto Rico, of the F-35 class, but daring to approach Venezuelan territory… we are watching them, I want you to know. And I want you to understand that this does not intimidate us,” he stated.
According to the data provided by the Defense official, the presence of more than five vectors was detected, exhibiting flight characteristics of 400 knots at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
Padrino López recalled that in September he had already reported on "intelligence" flights from the United States against Venezuela, and he warned about a military intervention plan that, in his opinion, aims to displace President Nicolás Maduro.
"Intelligence operations have always been conducted on United States Army aircraft in the Caribbean, but now they have changed from a daytime pattern to nighttime and dawn operations, and in August, they tripled reconnaissance operations against Venezuela."
Currently, the United States maintains at least eight warships in the region, in addition to a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and more than 4,500 soldiers, as part of an operation in the Caribbean Sea.
Washington has also deployed state-of-the-art F-35B fighter jets in Puerto Rico to strengthen operations against drug trafficking from Venezuela and other South American countries, a claim that Caracas rejects and considers a hostile act.
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