Venezuela criticized “illegal incursions” by US combat jets into an area under Venezuelan air traffic control, blaming the United States of a “provocation” that “threatens national sovereignty.”
The Venezuelan foreign and defense ministries said the fighters were detected “75 kilometers from our shores,” without saying whether they violated Venezuelan airspace.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino earlier claimed five US figh5ter jets had “dared to approach the Venezuelan coast” and had been detected by air defenses and the tracking systems of Maiquetia international airport, which serves the capital Caracas.
In their joint statement, the defense and economy ministries accused the United States of flouting international law and jeopardizing civil aviation in the Caribbean Sea.
US President Donald Trump dispatched 10 F-35 aircraft to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, last month as part of the largest military deployment in the area in over three decades.
He also sent eight warships and a nuclear submarine to the region as part of a stated operation to combat drug trafficking across the Caribbean to the United States.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has accused Trump of a covert bid to bring about regime change. US forces have blown up four boats belonging to alleged drug traffickers in recent weeks, according to Trump.
Fourteen people have been killed in the attacks in international waters, the legality of which has been questioned by rights groups as well as US Democrats and some Republicans.
War On Drug Cartels
President Donald Trump has declared that the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with drug cartels, his administration said in a notice sent to Congress after recent strikes on boats off Venezuela.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Thursday, is designed as a legal justification for at least three recent strikes in international waters that have killed at least 14 people.
The Trump administration has deployed several military vessels to the Caribbean Sea to counter drug smugglers amid mounting tensions with Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
“The president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,” the notice from the Pentagon said.
The notice also describes suspected smugglers as “unlawful combatants.”
The recent US strikes targeted boats allegedly loaded with drugs off the coast of Venezuela, but legal experts have raised doubts about the legality of Washington’s actions.
“As we have said many times, the president acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told AFP.
“He is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans.”
A White House official stated that the note was sent to Congress after one of the strikes on September 15, noting that it was legally mandated to do so following any attack involving the US military.
“It does not convey any new information,” the official told AFP.
© Agence France-Presse
