It appears that the US Air Force has for the second time in under a week conducted a bomber flight very near to Venezuela’s coast as a show of force.
It comes after days ago the US Southern Command confirmed what it called a “bomber attack demonstration mission” in skies over the southern Caribbean last week. Presumably this is what just happened again Thursday, according to open-source flight tracking data.
The Wall Street Journal has subsequently confirmed Thursday afternoon, “Two B-1 Lancers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew near Venezuela, though they remained in international airspace, according to a U.S. official and flight tracking data.“
The Pentagon has stressed that the aircraft remained in international airspace the whole time, before turning around – based on flight trackers.
Given this comes amid an unprecedented military build-up in the Caribbean, the fresh bomber flights set off an avalanche of speculation that President Trump is preparing to launch imminent military action against the Maduro government, per the WSJ:
The U.S. has seldom flown bombers near South America in recent decades, usually carrying out just one planned training mission a year. But more missions involving bombers could be carried out soon, according to two defense officials.
Thursday’s flights signal “seriousness and intent,” said David Deptula, a retired Air Force general and Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, an aerospace think tank. “You’re bringing an enormous set of capabilities…endurance, payload, range and precision,” he said.
Two U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers flew a Caribbean patrol today, entering Venezuela’s ADIZ and nearing within 80 km of the coast, briefly switching off transponders in what appeared to be a strike simulation.
The mission follows earlier B-52 and F-35 flights near Venezuela this… pic.twitter.com/Sz3nQNlya2
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 23, 2025
Various flight path observers noted it appeared to be precisely a “strike simulation” – which may have involved aerial refueling tankers as well.
As for the question of tonight could be the night, or even next 24 or 48 hours – for some kind of US military action over Venezuela – it remains very unlikely, given the presence in the general area of Tropical Storm Melissa, which looks to become a hurricane is currently barreling down on the Caribbean.
Could tonight be the night?
Venezuela 🇻🇪 https://t.co/JYk4iEd2bG
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) October 23, 2025
It would not at all be an optimal time for the Pentagon to launch any kind of military action in these waters, but looks to in fact be time to get US naval assets out of the path of the monster storm:
Tropical Storm Melissa continues to meander in the central Caribbean Sea on Oct. 23, its future path and strength still confounding meteorologists, who are now raising alarms about how strong the storm could become.
“It goes without saying, this is a very challenging track forecast,” the National Hurricane Center said in an Oct. 22 forecast discussion. In addition, “the intensity forecast is also more uncertain than usual, in large part related to the track uncertainty.”
And with the chances of a monstrous Category 5 storm still in play, the potential is there for Melissa to be “the most impactful storm of the 2025 season,” said Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza in a Substack post on Oct. 22.
These bomber flights could be yet more of the Trump White House seeking to scare Caracas by flexing and carry a ‘big stick’ – hoping for total political compliance. There are reports that Maduro has already offered Washington unprecedented concessions related to crude oil and favored status to American companies, but apparently to no avail.
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