Venezuela on Thursday said it had detected five US fighter jets flying near its Caribbean coast. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino described the incident as a “provocation” by the United States that posed a threat to national security.
“They are combat aircraft. Combat aircraft that US imperialism has dared to approach the Venezuelan coast,” Padrino said in comments broadcast on state TV.
Later on Thursday, the Venezuelan government issued a statement saying the aircraft had been detected 75 kilometers (about 46 miles) from its coastline, miles away from standard territorial waters which are typically 12 nautical miles from the coast.
Padrino described the planes as US F-35 fighter jets flying at a speed of 400 knots and an altitude of 35,000 feet. He said they were detected by air defense systems in the Maiquetía flight information region, a large expanse of sky that extends northward over the Caribbean Sea encompassing the entire airspace of Venezuela and beyond into international airspace.
Padrino said the crew of an international airliner flying in the area also reported to Maiquetía air traffic controllers that it had seen the US aircraft.
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