Venezuela: Donald Trump Claims Nicolas Maduro Has Been “Captured and Exfiltrated” from the Country
Caracas was shaken during the night from Friday to Saturday, January 3, by violent explosions and low-flying aircraft, plunging the Venezuelan capital into a climate of shock and extreme tension. In this explosive context, US President Donald Trump claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been “captured and exfiltrated” out of Venezuela, a statement that immediately sent shockwaves across the international stage.
According to several American media outlets, including CBS News and Fox News, anonymous officials from the US administration confirmed that the US military was behind a series of strikes carried out at dawn against Caracas and its surroundings. The White House and the Pentagon have, for now, made no official comment on these operations or on the information pointing to direct involvement by US forces.
Caracas Reeling from the Explosions
Blasts were heard in several areas of the capital, as well as in the neighboring states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Witnesses also reported explosions near Caracas airport and port, while others spoke of power outages in certain neighborhoods. The tremors were felt several kilometers away, without it being immediately possible to precisely identify the targets that were hit.
Several residents described scenes of panic. “We hear a lot of detonations and gunfire,” a resident of the Valle neighborhood told AFP, referring to sounds likened to machine-gun fire near Fuerte Tiuna, the capital’s main military enclave. Other accounts speak of families hastily preparing emergency bags, gathering documents, cash, and essential items, fearing a worsening of the situation.
The Venezuelan Government Denounces a “Military Aggression”
In an official statement, Venezuelan authorities denounced a “very serious military aggression” attributed to the United States, targeting civilian and military areas. President Nicolas Maduro declared a state of emergency and called on “all the country’s social and political forces to activate mobilization plans.”
These events come as Donald Trump had recently hardened his rhetoric toward Caracas, stating that the days of the Venezuelan president were “numbered” and not ruling out ground military operations. The prior deployment of a US flotilla in the Caribbean had already fueled fears of a major escalation.
A Situation That Remains Unclear
At this stage, the statements claiming the capture and exfiltration of Nicolas Maduro have not been independently confirmed. The lack of clear official communication, both from the American and Venezuelan sides, is maintaining major confusion over the reality of the facts and the exact scale of the ongoing operations.
As the international community watches the situation with concern, the night of explosions in Caracas marks a potentially decisive turning point in the Venezuelan crisis, raising fears of an escalation with major regional and international consequences.
Translated from Abderrazzak Boussaid’s French article – le7tv
