"Provocative move": Venezuelan fighter jets buzz US warship
Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy destroyer in the Caribbean on Thursday, a US official told Reuters, triggering a stern US warning to Venezuela against interfering in intensifying US military operations in the Caribbean.
The incident, which the Pentagon said occurred in international waters, further raises tensions just two days after a US strike killed 11 people aboard a vessel from Venezuela that President Donald Trump said was carrying illegal narcotics.
Legal experts have raised questions about the attack, despite the Trump administration arguments that it has the authority to strike alleged members of criminal gang Tren de Aragua trafficking drugs to the United States after Washington designated it terrorist organization earlier this year.
In a terse statement confirming only the broad outlines of the incident, the Pentagon equated illegitimate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government to a narco-trafficking cartel.
Trump has accused Maduro of running Tren de Aragua. "Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters," the Pentagon said in a statement, calling it a "highly provocative move".
"The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military."
Venezuela's Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Venezuelan military aircraft were F-16s and that they flew over the USS Jason Dunham.
The Dunham is one of at least seven US warships deployed to the Caribbean, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines, in a military buildup that has drawn concern from Caracas.
US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have also been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
Trump's decision to blow up a drug vessel passing through the Caribbean evokes memories of the US fight against militant groups like al Qaeda.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed such activities would continue, citing the threat that illegal narcotics pose to public health in the United States.
"The poisoning of the American people is over," Hegseth said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
