The U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, including the flagship USS Gerald R. Ford, front, USS Winston S. Churchill, right, USS Mahan, left, USS Bainbridge, and embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight F/A-18E/F Super Hornets assigned to Strike Fighter Squadrons 31, 37, 87, and 213 on Nov. 13, 2025. (Gladjimi Balisage/U.S. Navy)
(Tribune News Service) — U.S. Navy aircraft carried out patrol flights Friday near the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao as part of what Washington describes as an expanded security operation targeting illicit trafficking networks — a move Venezuela denounced as an act of intimidation and a prelude to broader conflict in the region.
Air-tracking data showed U.S. military aircraft, including combat fighters and electronic surveillance platforms, operating close to Venezuela’s maritime boundary as part of “Operation Southern Lance,” a mission ordered by President Donald Trump.
The operation’s stated objective is to neutralize security threats and drug-trafficking networks in the Western Hemisphere through an expanded projection of military force. U.S. officials say the centerpiece of the growing deployment is a campaign against the so-called Cartel de los Soles, a drug trafficking network Washington alleges is led by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and senior members of his inner circle.
Radar systems identified at least two F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jets flying north of Curaçao in international airspace, including one aircraft bearing tail number 166904. The patrols came amid heightened U.S. naval and aerial activity across the Caribbean, a region Washington says has become a major corridor for narcotics flowing into North America.
Caracas reacted sharply, accusing the United States of seeking to impose war on Latin America and the Caribbean. Speaking during a televised ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of Venezuela’s Comprehensive Aerospace Defense Command, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said the U.S. deployment was part of a broader strategy to intimidate Venezuela and destabilize the region.
“This is an attempt to impose a war on Latin America and the Caribbean,” Padrino López said on state television VTV, insisting that surrender was a “historical impossibility” for Venezuela. He claimed U.S. military actions ultimately put American lives at risk, accusing Washington of seeking to send home “young people of American society in black body bags and urns.”
Padrino López also denounced what he described as U.S. intimidation following reports that F/A-18 fighter jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela earlier this week. Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported U.S. military aircraft operating in the area but did not confirm whether they entered Venezuelan airspace.
The defense minister further condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude, calling it a “flagrant violation” of international law, freedom of navigation and free trade.
The vessel, identified as the Skipper, was intercepted earlier this week off Venezuela’s coast in a joint operation involving the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard. The tanker, which Washington sanctioned in 2022, was seized under a U.S. court order over alleged links to Iranian oil smuggling operations.
At the time of the seizure, the tanker was carrying about 1.9 million barrels of crude owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, according to Venezuelan authorities. Caracas did not disclose the oil’s destination and described the action as “outright theft.” U.S. officials said the operation was conducted under U.S. sanctions and maritime enforcement authorities.
On Friday, Trump declined to provide details about his administration’s plans regarding Venezuelan oil, saying he preferred to keep those plans confidential.
The escalation comes as Washington expands what it describes as a successful maritime counternarcotics campaign into a new operational phase. Speaking Friday, Trump announced that U.S. forces would soon begin ground-based actions against drug-trafficking networks, following what he characterized as major gains at sea.
“We stopped 96% of the drugs that were coming in by water,” Trump said, crediting U.S. naval interdictions across the Caribbean. “Every one of those ships you see is taken down.”
Trump said the maritime strategy has saved 25,000 American lives, but warned the next phase would involve land operations. “Now we’re starting on land, and on land it’s much easier,” he said, without offering details.
Asked whether the ground phase would focus on Venezuela, Trump said the campaign is not aimed at any single country, but at criminal networks and individuals involved in drug trafficking.
“These are not just ground attacks in Venezuela,” he said. “They are ground attacks against horrible people who bring drugs and kill our people.”
Trump likened the fight against drug trafficking to a war, citing what he described as an annual death toll of 300,000 people in the United States linked to drug abuse. Stopping the flow of narcotics, he said, remains a core national security priority.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Venezuela,” Trump added. “It’s people who bring drugs into our country. Those are our targets.”
The United States does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s government.
Since August, Washington has steadily increased its naval and aerial presence in the Caribbean, citing the fight against organized crime and narcotics trafficking. Maduro has repeatedly described the buildup as an effort to remove him from power.
In recent weeks, the Pentagon has surged additional air and naval assets into the region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and several guided-missile destroyers. The expansion coincides with a series of U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that officials say were ferrying narcotics for transnational criminal groups.
Trump has repeatedly defended the strikes by declaring that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels operating near Venezuelan waters.
The mounting military pressure builds on years of legal action against Maduro. In 2020, the Justice Department charged him with narcoterrorism, and more than a dozen senior Venezuelan officials were indicted as well. The State Department later offered a $50 million reward for Maduro — the largest bounty ever placed on a sitting head of state.
This story was supplemented with El Nuevo Herald’s wire services.
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