The U.S. military flew three B-52 bombers on missions near the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, according to a Global Strike Command spokesperson and a U.S. official, as the Trump administration continues to exert pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Tracking data on the site Flightradar24 shows the planes circled in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday, flying about 150 miles north of Venezuela. The data was first reported by ABC News.
The B-52 is a long-range bomber capable of carrying conventional or nuclear weapons, according to the Air Force. It was used extensively in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The mission follows a monthslong uptick in military activity in the waters off Venezuela. President Trump has deployed eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and fighter jets to the area. In sum, about 10,000 U.S. forces are built up in the Caribbean region, either on ships or in Puerto Rico, CBS News learned Wednesday.
The military has also carried out airstrikes on at least five alleged drug-carrying boats near Venezuela since last month. And on Wednesday, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he has authorized covert CIA operations in the South American country, and said his administration is considering strikes on drug traffickers by land.
Tensions have spiked between the U.S. and Maduro, whom the Trump administration has accused of collaborating with cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua. Maduro was indicted in Manhattan for narco-terrorism five years ago, and the administration increased the bounty for his capture to $50 million earlier this year.
Maduro has denied ties to drug cartels and lashed out at the Trump administration for its strikes on alleged drug boats, accusing it of plotting regime change. Mr. Trump has not publicly said he is seeking the ouster of Maduro, whose 2018 and 2024 election victories were marred by widespread allegations of fraud.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump did not say whether the CIA has authority to take out Maduro, telling CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe it would be “a ridiculous question for me to answer.”
The boat strikes have also drawn domestic pushback, with Democrats and some Republicans arguing that Mr. Trump needs congressional authority to carry out the strikes and hasn’t provided enough evidence that the boats were carrying drugs.
The Trump administration has asserted that it does not need permission from Congress. It has argued that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, which it called “unlawful combatants,” in a notice to lawmakers obtained by CBS News.
