Venezuela's defence minister has raised eyebrows by apparently relying on a consumer flight-tracking website to monitor US military activity in the Caribbean, laying bare potential gaps in the country's air surveillance capabilities as Washington escalates pressure on the regime of President Nicolas Maduro.

Vladimir Padrino López, Venezuela's Defence Minister, was photographed last week delivering a speech on the country's "permanent defence" posture against potential American military incursion, his fist raised in defiance, with what appeared to be a web browser showing a Flightradar24 page projected behind him.

The Swedish company, which provides real-time flight tracking data primarily for aviation enthusiasts, responded with thinly veiled mockery on social media. "Hello Vladimir Padrino," Flightradar24 wrote on X. "If you need to improve Flightradar24 coverage in Venezuela, feel free to apply for free receivers on our website."

The incident has exposed an awkward reality as military aircraft engaged in sensitive operations typically fly with their transponders switched off, rendering them invisible to civilian tracking services that rely on publicly broadcast ADS-B signals. US fighter jets detected near Venezuelan waters in recent days would almost certainly have disabled such systems.

Defence analysts said the reliance on open-source civilian tools raised questions about Venezuela's air defence capabilities at a moment of heightened tension with Washington. The country's military infrastructure has deteriorated significantly over the past decade, mirroring the broader collapse of state institutions under economic crisis and international sanctions.

The episode comes as the Trump administration substantially increases its military presence in the region. More than 15,000 US troops and multiple naval vessels, including the aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford, are now deployed in Caribbean waters.

Last week, US authorities seized a previously sanctioned very large crude carrier off Venezuela's coast carrying approximately 1.8mn barrels of Venezuelan oil. President Donald Trump described it as "the largest [tanker] ever, actually" and warned that "other things are happening", signalling further action against Caracas.

Venezuela's Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure as "barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy". The incident marked Washington's first physical interdiction of Venezuelan crude since 2019, representing an escalation from financial sanctions to direct enforcement action.

The Maduro government has not issued an official response to questions about its air monitoring systems. But the defence ministry's apparent use of Flightradar24 continues to generate ridicule on social media, where users have questioned whether the Chavista army’s top brass understood the platform's limitations for tracking military aircraft.

The Trump administration has authorised CIA covert actions against Venezuela and drafted various military scenarios which look increasingly aimed at unseating Maduro, whose days the US president has described as "numbered."

Earlier this month, Trump ordered the “total closure of airspace over Venezuela and surrounding areas,” prompting most international airlines to suspend their services to Caracas.

White House officials have conducted more than 20 strikes since September against vessels allegedly transporting drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters, killing over 80 people.