The Pentagon said two Venezuelan military planes flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters Thursday in a "highly provocative" move that marked a new escalation in the standoff over Washington's Caribbean deployment.

"The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military," the Defense Department said on X.

Washington has deployed warships in the south Caribbean as tensions rise between US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States accuses of leading a drug cartel.

On Tuesday, US forces blew up an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean that Trump said belonged to the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan crimin

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