At least five aircraft were spotted off the coast, Caracas claims<\/p>\n
Venezuela has accused the US of \u201cillegally\u201d flying F-35 fighter planes near its borders, amid rising tensions in the Caribbean.
\nForeign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto said the \u201cillegal incursion\u201d was detected on Thursday around 75 kilometers off the coast near the city of Maiquetia. He denounced the maneuvers as \u201ca provocation that threatens national sovereignty and violates international law.\u201d
\nDefense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez claimed that at least five F-35s were spotted flying at a speed of 400 knots and an altitude of 35,000 feet. He noted it was the first time aircraft of this type had been deployed in the area.
\nTensions flared last month when the US struck four Venezuelan boats in international waters carrying suspected drug traffickers.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: US \u2018preparing options\u2019 for strikes inside Venezuela \u2013 NBC<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump later dispatched a naval armada to the region, accusing Caracas of working with \u201cnarco-terrorist\u201d cartels to target the US. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected the allegations and vowed to defend his country against any attack.
\nOn Monday, the New York Times reported that top aides have been urging Trump to remove Maduro from power. The US president has denied planning regime change, though he imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela during his first term in office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least five aircraft were spotted off the coast, Caracas claims Venezuela has accused the US of \u201cillegally\u201d flying F-35 fighter planes near its borders, amid rising tensions in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t