The U.S. military conducted a drill over Caracas on Saturday, its first military exercise in Venezuela since U.S. troops attacked the capital and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3.
Axar.az reports, citing Reuters, the drill, which the Venezuelan government said it had authorized as an evacuation drill for possible medical emergencies or disasters, included two MV-22B Osprey aircraft that landed near the U.S. embassy and vessels that entered Venezuelan waters in the Caribbean Sea.
The US embassy said in a statement it remained "committed to ensuring the implementation" of US President Donald Trump's three-phase plan, "particularly the stabilization of Venezuela."
Francis Donovan, commander of the US Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Americas, flew on one of the Osprey aircraft into Caracas, where he met with interim government officials.
"This keeps us on guard," said Evelyn Rebolledo, 57, an administrator living in the capital. "A foreign country flying over the city itself, this is new to us and more so coming from the United States, given the current situation and all the turmoil in the country. It leaves us in a state of uncertainty."