Defense Dept. warns Venezuela after ‘provocative’ jets fly near Navy ship
Two Venezuelan military aircraft flew close to a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters in a “highly provocative move,” according to the Department of Defense, following an escalation in tensions between the United States and the Latin American country in recent days.
The Defense Department wrote on X late Thursday that the incident, which came two days after a deadly U.S. military strike on a boat that the Trump administration said was carrying drugs from Venezuela, “was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations.”
“The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counterterror operations carried out by the US military,” the statement continued, in reference to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government.
The Defense Department did not immediately reply to an overnight request for comment. The statement did not identify which Navy vessel was involved.
The U.S. military operation in the Caribbean on Tuesday killed 11 people, according to President Donald Trump, who said on social media that the targets were “Narcoterrorists” who were “at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.” Trump claimed that those on board were affiliated with a criminal gang that he says acts at Maduro’s direction.
The strike marked an intensification of Washington’s feud with Maduro, whose rule the U.S. considers illegitimate. It also appeared to mark the first known instance of deadly force from the Trump administration to target illegal drug shipments from Latin America.
The Venezuelan government made no immediate comment on the incident. U.S. lawmakers and legal analysts have questioned the legality of a strike against civilians in international waters outside of an armed conflict.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the previous U.S. policy of intercepting maritime drug-smuggling operations “does not work,” adding that further actions were likely.
Earlier this week, Maduro criticized the heightened U.S. presence in the Caribbean, after the deployment of eight warships as part of what a defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not yet been made public, said at the time was an “enhanced counter narcotics operation.”
The Trump administration last month doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million. Venezuela, meanwhile, announced the deployment of 15,000 troops to the border it shares with Colombia to “ensure peace in the area” and called on Venezuelans to enlist in militias to “fight the empire.”