US military jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, marking the closest US warplanes have come to the South American country’s airspace since the Trump administration began its pressure campaign.
Public flight tracking websites observed a pair of U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jets crossing the Gulf — a body of water bordered by Venezuela and about 150 miles at its widest point — for more than 30 minutes.
A US defense official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of military operations, confirmed the “routine training flight.” The official said the planes remained in international airspace the entire time but could not confirm whether they were armed.
They compared the exercise to previous demonstrations of American air range, stressing that the maneuver was not intended to be provocative.
The military has previously sent B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers to the region, but those planes flew into and along the coast of Venezuela. There was no indication that these planes ever flew as close to the country’s territory as the F/A-18 fighter jets on Tuesday.
The flights are the latest action taken by the US military as it builds up its largest presence in the region in decades and carries out a series of deadly attacks on suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. President Donald Trump says land attacks are coming soon, but has not provided details on the location.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted that the real goal of US military operations is to force him out of office.
The Trump administration has faced mounting criticism from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign, which has killed at least 87 people in 22 known strikes since early September, including a follow-up attack that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the initial hit.
Lawmakers are demanding unedited video footage of the strikes, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders on Tuesday he was still unsure whether to release it. Hegseth, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top national security officials, provided a classified briefing for congressional leaders.
That same day, Admiral Alvin Holsey, who is retiring this week from the U.S. Southern Command, spoke separately with the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, claiming the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Flightradar24, one of the websites that allowed the public to watch the planes fly in real time, said the planes were the most followed flights on its site at the time.
Venezuela has claimed that the water is part of the country’s national territory, but these claims have been disputed by US legal scholars and the military for decades.
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