A USAF E-3 Sentry. An airborne warning and control system aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control, and communications needed by commanders of US and NATO. Photo: USAF/File photo.
Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino reported Sunday that the United States carries out intelligence flights against the country and provided details about the types of aircraft it frequently flies in the Caribbean, noting they have tripled in recent weeks. He asserted that Venezuela “is prepared for each flight and also conducts intelligence for its defense.”
General Padrino described the types of aircraft being piloted over the Caribbean on a mission he described as “very provocative,” one that seeks to create an incident to ignite war in the Caribbean.
The top Venezuelan commander explained that intelligence operations have always been carried out by US military aircraft and that operations have always taken place in the Caribbean. “There, they cross our flight information region, sometimes violating operational regulations because they don’t give notification of their flight plans, which can even cause plane crashes in the north of our Caribbean territory,” revealed Padrino. “This has always happened; what’s happening is that now they do it at night or in the early morning, and in August, intelligence operations, reconnaissance operations, and reconnaissance against the country tripled,” he said.
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In September, it happened every day. Last night, it was intelligence aircraft, which require a lot of fuel to orbit and acquire signals. They are RC-135 aircraft that perform strategic intelligence reconnaissance designed to collect and process information in real time, up to 200 miles—meaning their range extends into Venezuelan territory—using advanced intelligence, electronic, radar and signal systems, and reaching a maximum speed of 951 km/h.
Another aircraft that passes through Venezuelan territory is the Boeing KC-135, a tanker aircraft that refuels in flight. One that frequently passes over the Caribbean near the Venezuelan coast is the E-3 Sentry AWACS. This is an airborne warning and control system, an airborne command post that allows simultaneous command of several aircraft. It is equipped with a long-range rotating radar capable of conducting air and surface surveillance, among other capabilities.
Padrino named other aircraft that frequently fly over the Caribbean and warned that these are planes conducting intelligence gathering, “and we know it. They will know their goals; however we are conducting our internal intelligence processes too, integrating all available information,” he added.
Padrino warned that Venezuela is prepared for every flight. “We have an action, individually, that is, a weapons system, or collectively. But we know what they’re doing. We know the deployment they have in the Caribbean Sea,” he warned.
The defense minister warned that this deployment in the Caribbean Sea is intended to generate a war that “we Venezuelans, the peoples of the Caribbean, the peoples of Central America and Latin America do not want. We are a Zone of Peace, clearly established by CELAC in 2014, which was also masterfully conceived, free from the use of atomic weapons.”
We have seen this deployment, which has a “very provocative” mission that, in his judgement, is looking for an incident to generate a war in the Caribbean. They are trying to get us to fall into their provocation game and allow them to escalate—with legitimacy in their view—the military conflict and produce the aggression they have been announcing for over a month, a military aggression being the most dangerous form of aggression against a nation, and with the goal of regime change.
Warning for Guyana and Trinidad
During his statements, the Venezuelan top military commander sent a clear message to the governments of Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, warning them not to allow the use of their territory for US military aggression against Venezuela, as they will receive a direct response invoking self-defense.
“I say to these governments to whom the United States sent a drafted communiqué—I mean the governments of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the government of Trinidad and Tobago, who have played along—I say to you that if they attack us from your territory, you will also receive a response—a response, and that in legitimate defense. You already know what our profile is regarding respect for the sovereignty of peoples. You already know what our profile is regarding respect for human rights. You know what our profile is regarding respect for international law. You know what our profile is regarding respect for the self-determination of peoples. And you know what our profile is regarding national independence,” Minister Padrino said.
(Ăšltimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/JB
