Maverick Buzz.

Venezuelan jet fighters set sights on U.S. Coast Guard.

THE NEW VENEZUELAN FOREIGN RELATIONS SLOgan might well be: We don't need no stinkin' diplomats.

The Venezuela government recently argued with the United States the old-fashioned way, with a show of military might, by buzzing a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in disputed area waters.

A Venezuelan navy patrol detected the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Reliance in the Gulf of Venezuela. U.S. officials say the patrol of Venezuelan F-16s then buzzed the Reliance, flying over it at low altitude.

The Reliance was on a counter-narcotics mission, seeking small vessels that might be taking drugs from Colombia or Venezuela into the Caribbean.

But, according to Venezuelan officials, the U.S. Coast Guard vessel was infringing on the South American country's sovereignty. A Venezuelan embassy official in Washington, D.C. says the Reliance was in "very Venezuelan waters."

U.S. officials say such a claim has no historical basis: Venezuelan laws or decrees make no reference to a special status for the gulf. They say Venezuela passed a maritime law in 1956, plus a presidential decree in 1968, that established a straight baseline along the eastern coast of the country--and neither included a claim to the Gulf of Venezuela in the west.

Venezuela does have a water border dispute with neighboring Colombia, which holds the northwestern stretch of the coast and claims a share of the waters. And the Venezuelan government has also revived an ancient territorial dispute with its eastern neighbor Guyana. It claims 75% of the small former British colony.

As for the United States, the dispute may represent a line in the sand. Venezuela President Hugo Chavez upset the United States in August by visiting Iraq, a fellow member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties. In November, he hosted Cuban President Fidel Castro on a state visit.

Such political maneuverings are of little concern to shippers and shipping lines in the trade lane. But buzzing a U.S. Coast Guard vessel--well, that could have more ramifications, especially for one of the busiest shipping regions in American waters. Shipping lines will avoid dangerous areas, insurance costs could rise and sailors might demand more pay.

U.S. and Venezuelan officials now say they have settled the incident.