Venezuela said Thursday it detected five US fighter jets flying near the Caribbean coast. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino described the incident as a “provocation” by the United States that poses a threat to national security.
“They are fighters. Fighters that US imperialism deliberate to approach the coast of Venezuela,” Padrino said in a comment broadcast on state television.
Later on Thursday, the Venezuelan government issued a statement that an aircraft was detected miles away, claiming that 75 kilometers (about 46 miles) from the coastline, located 12 voyages from the coastline.
Padrino described the plane as a US F-35 fighter plane flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet at a speed of 400 knots. He said they were detected by the air defense system in the Michaelisia Flight Information Area, a vast vast sky that surrounds Venezuela’s airspace and extends northwards through the Caribbean seas beyond international airspace.
Padrino said the crew of an international passenger plane flying through the area also reported to McKettier air traffic controllers that they saw the US aircraft.
CNN contacted the US Department of Defense and the Venezuela Department of Defense for comments on the exact location of the flight.
The news argues that the US is on its mission to combat drug trafficking amid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas after the deployment of several US warships in the Caribbean, but Venezuela believes it is aiming to change government.
The recent US strike targets at least four boats and kills more than a dozen drug traffickers, but the US has not provided concrete evidence that targeted people are criminals.
“I never saw this aircraft deployed, which I know is stationed in Puerto Rico in the F-35 class,” Padrino said.
At least five F-35 fighter jets arrived in Puerto Rico in mid-September, according to the US Department of Defense. Two White House officials previously told CNN that the US would send 10 of these planes to the island. There, US Marines are conducting training exercises for amphibious landings.
“We’re looking at you,” Padrino warned.
CNN’s Jonny Hallam contributed.
