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Combat aircraft and intelligence platforms from the United States Navy conducted aerial patrols near the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao this Friday, raising military tensions in the Caribbean amid the escalating confrontation between Washington and the government of Nicolás Maduro.
According to aerial tracking data, two F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jets, one identified with tail number 166904, flew in international airspace north of Curaçao, in what the Pentagon described as part of an “enhanced security operation” against drug trafficking networks, according to a report from El Nuevo Herald.
The missions are part of Operation Southern Lance, ordered by President Donald Trump as an extension of the naval campaign launched in September against drug cartels and drug trafficking routes in the Caribbean and Pacific regions.
Washington maintains that the objective of the offensive is to neutralize transnational threats and dismantle the so-called Cartel of the Suns, a drug trafficking organization that, according to the United States, is led by Maduro and high-ranking Venezuelan military officials.
Caracas denounces "attempt to impose a war"
The Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, denounced that the American flights constitute a "deliberate provocation" and an "attempt to impose a war in Latin America and the Caribbean."
During a televised ceremony, he asserted that surrender is a “historical impossibility” for Venezuela and warned that military actions by the United States will “put American lives at risk.”
"They intend to send young people from their society back home in black bags and coffins," said the general, accusing Washington of using the fight against drug trafficking as an excuse to force a regime change.
The Venezuelan government also protested the recent seizure of the tanker Skipper, intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard with 1.9 million barrels of Venezuelan crude on board.
Caracas described the incident as "blatant theft," while U.S. officials claimed that the operation complied with current sanctions and maritime law.
Trump promises actions "on the ground."
From Washington, Trump defended the increase in military deployment and stated that the next phase of the campaign "will be on land." "We stopped 96% of the drugs coming by sea. Now we are starting on land, and it’s much easier on land," he said, without providing further details.
The president assured that the offensive is not directed against a specific country, but rather against "horrible people who bring drugs and kill our people," although Venezuela remains the main focus of U.S. pressure.
With the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and several destroyers operating in the region, the crisis enters a new stage: the United States has shifted from a naval blockade to the threat of ground incursions, while Caracas asserts that Washington's ultimate goal is to overthrow Maduro.
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