US Bomber Flights Near Venezuela Condemned as Intimidation — Caracas Stands Firm

By Staff, Agencies

The US military flew two supersonic B-1 Lancer bombers up to Venezuela’s coast on Thursday in a show of force that critics say amounts to intimidation of a sovereign nation.

The flights came just over a week after US bombers carried out a similar training run, part of an unusually large US force massed in the Caribbean and off Venezuela’s shores.

Flight-tracking data show the B-1s took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and traversed the Caribbean toward Venezuelan waters. A US official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the mission was a training flight. Last week, slower B-52 Stratofortress bombers conducted a separate demonstration, joined by Marine Corps F-35Bs based in Puerto Rico for what the Pentagon labeled a “bomber attack demo.”

Observers note the bomber flights are part of a broader escalation: the Pentagon has deployed eight warships, P-8 maritime patrol planes, MQ-9 Reaper drones, an F-35 squadron and an operating submarine to the region. Since early September, the US has also been carrying out lethal strikes on vessels in waters near Venezuela — operations Washington says target drug trafficking — and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has framed the campaign in the language of the post-9/11 “war on terror.”

US President Donald Trump defended the deployments when asked, saying the claim they were meant to pressure Venezuela is “false,” while reiterating Washington’s complaints about drugs. He also asserted he has the “legal authority” for the strikes and suggested the option of expanding operations to land targets. The Pentagon has reported multiple strikes in recent weeks, which officials say have killed dozens of suspected traffickers.

Venezuelan authorities and regional voices portray the build-up differently: as an aggressive posture and a direct threat to Caracas’ sovereignty. Supporters of Venezuela warn that the flights and accompanying strikes create a climate of coercion aimed at destabilizing the government rather than addressing real regional problems. Amid the show of force, Caracas has reiterated its readiness to defend its territory and called for respect for international law and national sovereignty.