USA Bombards Venezuela Targets and Captures Maduro
US Attorney General Pam Bondi says that Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores will be tried in a federal court in New York.
HAVANA TIMES – The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is, for the moment, the main achievement announced from the US military intervention in Venezuela, which in recent hours has put the international community—and especially Latin America—on edge.
This has been the sequence of events during the last turbulent hours:
12:30 a.m. Several detonations and explosions accompanied by aircraft flyovers are heard in Caracas, with no details known at that time. Images of explosions at several points in the Venezuelan capital circulate on social media, while users report detonations at the country’s main military stronghold, Fuerte Tiuna, west of the city, and at the La Carlota military base.
1:28 a.m. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says that Caracas is being bombed, after detonations and explosions were heard in the early morning at several points in the Venezuelan capital.
1:35 a.m. The Maduro government denounces a “very serious military aggression” by the United States against Venezuela, specifically in civilian and military locations in the states of Miranda, Aragua, La Guaira, and the capital, Caracas, and orders “the deployment of the command for the comprehensive defense of the nation.”
1:40 a.m. Nicolas Maduro declares a state of external emergency in Venezuela. He does so after denouncing a “military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States” early Saturday morning in Caracas and the nearby states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. “The immediate deployment of the Command for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation and the Direction Bodies for Comprehensive Defense in all the states and municipalities of the country is ordered,” the government said in a statement read on state television VTV.
1:52 a.m. CBS reports that US President Donald Trump has ordered attacks inside Venezuela, including against military targets. According to those sources, the White House had considered carrying out airstrikes against Venezuelan targets, including military ones, on Christmas Day, but ultimately decided to prioritize airstrikes in Nigeria against alleged Islamic State (IS) camps.
2:08 a.m. It is reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has prohibited US commercial aircraft from operating at any altitude over Venezuelan airspace, citing security risks arising from ongoing military activity in the South American country. The notice, known as a NOTAM, went into effect at 2:00 a.m. Saturday local time in Venezuela and will be in force for 23 hours.
2:31 a.m. The first damage from the US operation is reported: fire and some damage to fencing at the Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, also known as La Carlota, Caracas’s main military airport, according to EFE.
3:28 a.m. President Donald Trump confirms that the United States has “successfully carried out a large-scale attack against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been captured, along with his wife, and airlifted out of the country.”
“The operation was carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement,” Trump said in a message on the social network Truth Social, in which he indicated he will provide more information today at an 11:00 a.m. (16:00 GMT) press conference from Mar-a-Lago (Florida).
4:29 a.m. Colombian President Gustavo Petro announces reinforced security along the border with Venezuela to address a possible mass arrival of refugees from that country following the US attack on Caracas and other cities.
4:48 a.m. The Venezuelan government requests an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to discuss the “acts of aggression” by the United States against Venezuela.
4:45 a.m. Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, calls on the country to remain calm and not to “make things easier for the invading enemy,” labeling the attack carried out early this morning by the United States in the South American country as “criminal and terrorist.”
4:30 a.m. The New York Times reports that no US casualties were recorded in the operation ordered by President Donald Trump to attack Venezuela and capture Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro’s whereabouts
After at 3:28 a.m. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, and airlifted them out of the country, these have been the main reactions:
4:15 a.m. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy RodrIguez reports that the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores are unknown, after Donald Trump confirmed an attack on the country and announced the capture of both.
5:03 a.m. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that Nicolas Maduro has been arrested by the United States and will face a criminal trial in that country, and that now that the Venezuelan leader has been captured no further military actions in the country are expected, according to Republican Senator Mike Lee following a conversation.
5:35 a.m. Venezuela’s attorney general denounces the “kidnapping” of Maduro by the United States and calls for his release, also holding the US responsible for anything that may happen to him.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores will be tried in a federal court in New York and recalled the formal indictment that has been in place since 2020 against the Caribbean country’s leader on four charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism.
[Editor’s note: The capture of Nicolas Maduro took place on the same date, January 3rd, that Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was captured during the US invasion of that Central American country in 1990.]
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
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