US Denies Provocation, Flies Bombers Off Venezuela Coast
The Independent reports that Trump denied sending B-1B supersonic bombers near Venezuela, claiming to be unaware. Yet, flight tracking data shows the heavy bombers, capable of carrying significant payloads, did indeed conduct flights along Venezuela's coast. This mirrors a long-standing US foreign policy tradition of 'deniable' saber-rattling against nations that don't fall in line, particularly
in Latin America, where interventions ranging from 'regime change' operations to economic destabilization have been commonplace for over a century. Such 'coincidental' flybys serve as thinly veiled intimidation tactics, a military-industrial complex's equivalent of 'I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you.' One has to wonder how the US would react if 'friendly patrols' of Russian bombers were
spotted 'mistakenly' buzzing the Florida coast with such regularity. Perhaps the criteria for 'provocation' depend entirely on who is doing the provoking, and to whom.