The two Venezuelan aircraft involved in the incident were American-made F-16s, which the South American country adopted in 1983 under the “Peace Delta” Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program.
The United States Department of Defense confirmed via a post on social media on Thursday that a pair of Venezuelan fighter jets had “buzzed” a United States Navy guided-missile destroyer in the Caribbean.
“Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters,” the Department of Defense stated in a press release. “This highly provocative move 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 counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.”
What We Know About the Venezuelan Buzzing Incident
The two Venezuelan aircraft involved in the incident were American-made F-16 Fighting Falcons, which the South American country adopted in 1983 under the “Peace Delta” Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS). Venezuela was actually the first country in Latin America to operate the Fighting Falcon, obtaining 24 Block 15 F-16A/B fighters. As of December 2023, it was reported that 15 of the aircraft remained in service with the Venezuelan Air Force, operated by the Grupo Aéreo de Caza No. 16 squadron.
Unlike the F-16s in service in other nations around the world, the aircraft have not received any major upgrades due to US embargoes on Caracas. After the election of left-wing populist Hugo Chavez to the Venezuelan presidency in 2002, relations between the United States and Venezuela quickly soured, and Washington imposed economic sanctions on the South American nation in 2005 and 2006 for its lack of cooperation in countering drug and terrorist activities. This was followed by comprehensive financial sanctions in 2017 and 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The F-16s flew over the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109). The warship, named for Medal of Honor recipient United States Marine Corps Cpl. Jason Dunham, is homeported out of Naval Station Mayport, Florida, as part of Destroyer Squadron 28. DDG-109 was dispatched as part of a US Navy flotilla last month to patrol the waters off Venezuela to counter drug smuggling activities.
The “War on Drugs” Is Heating Up in South America
The White House has accused the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of “allying with drug cartels to traffic narcotics to the United States,” CBS News reported. The US has placed a bounty of $50 million for the arrest of Maduro, likely hoping to prompt actions from within his government.
Caracas has denied that it supports drug cartels or participates in the narcotics trade. It called the US deployment of warships a “criminal and bloody threat.”
Maduro further accused the US of plotting to carry out regime change by military force and stated that he would declare a “Republic in Arms.”
“In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defence of Venezuela,” Maduro added.
The provocation by the F-16s came two days after the US military confirmed that it sank a boat that it alleged was carrying narcotics from Venezuela. Media reports claimed that the airstrike had killed 11 people on board—alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a criminal syndicate that the US State Department had designated a terrorist organization.
However, the legality of the actions has raised some alarms, with a former senior federal law enforcement officer telling The New York Times, “In all of my years of doing this, I’ve never seen the U.S. military say, ‘OK, this is a drug shipment,’ and then just blow it up.”
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock / Maverrick.
