US military buildup off Venezuela coast stirs echoes of 1989 Panama invasion

Some see anti-Noriega operation as model for deposing Maduro but others say war of bluff and intimidation is more likely option

Michael Durant watched through night-vision goggles as two 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs slammed on to the Panamanian airbase while he hovered off the country’s south coast in a Black Hawk helicopter.

“A gigantic flash, followed by a boom … [like]the largest lightning strike you’ve ever seen in your life,” the retired US army pilot recalled of the opening salvo of the Battle of Rio Hato Airfield in December 1989.

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