I guess this one is only for a show sending visual message. Russian, and maybe even Chinese, submarines are ready any time soon to launch SLBMs in a vicinty of the American coast, on a short notice, if there will be a need for that?!

+Ermin Hasičević Yes, for the most part it is for show. However, these planes are also one of the most underestimated and misunderstood first-strike weapons. When people look at them, and the Tu-95 even more so, they think of them in terms of the WW2 and Vietnam-era bombers. Of course, as such they are perceived as obsolete and primitive. What people don't get is that these are not "bombers", they are the airborne equivalent of nuclear submarines: their main weapon are the nuclear-tipped cruise missiles which, if made stealthy, can be squeezed off without much notice or fuss, a 2500 km or so away from the intended target, they can hide in the terrain, they are not perceived by the satellites that constantly watch for the ICBM/SLBM launch signatures. As I said, if those rockets are stealthy, they won't show on radars, and their standard jet engines don't need to have much of an infrared signature either, and if you underestimate it enough not to have at least two fighter jets in a line of sight, watching for the cruise missile launch, and immediately attempting to shoot down first the plane, and then the missiles, well, you get the picture. Having those two in Venezuela is not enough to change the entire geostrategic picture, but it's the equivalent of having two Borei class subs in the bay of Mexico, all the time. They are such a formidable first-strike weapon, one needs to observe them all the time, literally every second they are in the air, every second they are on the ground, assessing whether they are carrying a nuclear payload, and they will play with you, making routine flights along the borders of your airspace, making mock attacks and turning away every time, just so that they get you used to the routine, so that you can never tell whether today is just another mock attack or, if your attention slips, they squeeze off 12 cruise missiles with 200kt warheads each. And as those missiles fly to their targets, hell of all kinds breaks loose in other parts of the world to fuck with your attention, and you lose all your military bases, all your aircraft carrier battle groups, all your strategic nuclear subs, airports, nuclear silos, and after a few minutes the red phone rings and Putin asks you to surrender immediately, or he's going to really fuck you up. And yes, you surrender, because you find out that you have just enough nuclear weapons to piss him off, and not enough to do anything, not even pass through the Moscow's aerospatial shield.
So, yes, those planes are just playing with the Americans' nerves, and they are just for show. However, they carry more potential for death and destruction than anything used in the history of war, and there's a reason why the Americans reacted so nervously. Those two planes, if they make a habit of patrolling the skies of Venezuela, will force the Americans to recalculate their entire nuclear doctrine.

Those cheap Russians!

Wow. Btw, the soprano from quartet opposite to choir is out of this world :)