Venezuelan fighter jets buzzed a US Navy destroyer on Thursday in what the Pentagon called a “highly provocative move”.
The incident, which Washington said occurred in international waters, saw two F-16 warplanes fly over the USS Jason Dunham, one of seven US warships deployed to the Caribbean as part of American efforts to crack down on drug trafficking.
In a terse statement that confirmed only the broad outlines of the incident, the Pentagon equated Nicolas Maduro’s government to a narco-trafficking cartel.
“Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
“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.”
Venezuela’s Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters news agency.
President Donald Trump has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of running Tren de Aragua, a criminal organisation that Washington designated a terrorist organisation earlier this year. Caracas denies the allegations.
The US has also offered a $50 million (£37.1m) reward for Maduro’s arrest.
A US official, speaking to Reuters anonymously, said the Venezuelan military aircraft were F-16s and that they flew over the USS Jason Dunham.
The Dunham has been deployed to the Caribbean, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines, in a military buildup that has drawn concern from Caracas.
US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have also been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
‘An immediate threat to the US’
On Friday, the US also ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to a Puerto Rico airfield to conduct operations against drug cartels, two sources told Reuters, adding to the already bristling US military presence in the southern Caribbean.
Thursday’s incident further raises tensions just two days after a US strike killed 11 people aboard a vessel from Venezuela that Mr Trump said was carrying illegal narcotics.