The United States has dramatically escalated its pressure campaign against the government of Nicolás Maduro, deploying two B-52H “Stratofortress” strategic bombers to conduct a clear and unambiguous show of force just off the Venezuelan coast. The long-range bombers, operating under the call signs BUNNY01 and BUNNY02, are currently orbiting in international airspace over the Southern Caribbean, approximately 100 miles north of Caracas.
The deployment, involving aircraft from the 2nd Bomb Wing based at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is the most significant and overt military signal sent to the Maduro regime to date. It comes at a moment of complete diplomatic breakdown between the two nations. Just last week, Caracas requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting, claiming it expected an “imminent” U.S. armed attack—an accusation Washington dismissed as “delusional paranoia” before officially terminating all diplomatic outreach to the regime.
That diplomatic rupture was triggered by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a move that the Maduro government viewed as a hostile act. With diplomatic channels now frozen, the White House appears to have shifted to military signaling to convey its message.
The choice of the B-52 is highly symbolic and intentionally intimidating. As one of the most iconic and powerful aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory, the Stratofortress is a cornerstone of American global power projection. Capable of flying intercontinental distances without refueling and delivering up to 70,000 pounds of conventional or nuclear ordnance, its presence in the region is a potent reminder of the U.S. military’s reach and destructive capability.
This bomber mission is not happening in isolation. It follows a noted increase in U.S. military surveillance flights and naval activity in the Caribbean over the past few weeks, suggesting a coordinated effort to position assets and increase pressure on Caracas.
The flight path, holding in a pattern just outside Venezuelan sovereign airspace but well within striking distance of the capital, is a textbook coercive maneuver. The message being sent to Maduro and his military leadership is unequivocal: while the U.S. has halted diplomatic talks, it has not diminished its resolve, and it possesses the overwhelming military power to act if it chooses to. The world is now watching to see how the increasingly isolated government in Caracas will respond to the sight of American strategic bombers circling on its horizon.
