A dramatic new phase in President Donald Trump’s showdown with Venezuela began on Saturday when the United States launched a series of major attacks. Hours later, President Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured by U.S. forces and removed from the country.
Here’s what we can say about the daring raid, which U.S. officials dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, using verified video and images from the scene, satellite imagery, and other open source information.
Plans for the attack had been secretly underway since December, but Trump said at a press conference at his club Mar-a-Lago on Saturday that he made the final decision to attack the previous day at 11:46 p.m. Venezuelan time (10:46 p.m. ET).
Reports of loud explosions and low-flying aircraft began pouring in just before 2 a.m. local time in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Metadata said, and a video taken at 1:58 a.m. showed multiple explosions and fires near the Tiuna Fort military complex. A local resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told CNN the explosion lasted until about 3 a.m.
CNN confirmed that at least seven major infrastructure facilities were bombed during the same period, including the port of La Guaira, less than 10 miles north of central Caracas, and the city’s Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, widely known as La Carlota Airport.
Other targets included the National Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in the capital and a communications antenna facility just south of Caracas that was seen burning in footage localized by CNN.
Dramatic footage reviewed by CNN showed a massive fire and explosion that began just before 2 a.m. at Higuerote’s second airport, about 82 miles east of the capital, witnesses said. In the video, multiple fireballs can be seen arcing through the sky, consistent with the combustion of weapons such as those used by air defense systems.
Residents of the coastal town of Higuerote told CNN they initially thought it was fireworks, but then woke up to the sound of more explosions echoing throughout the area and the sky suddenly turning red.
“That was the moment I realized this was something much more serious,” said the 23-year-old, who asked not to be named for safety reasons. “My neighbors started running down the street screaming, and I went outside and saw this huge wall of smoke.”
“There was silence for about 20 minutes, then we heard the plane again and then two more explosions,” he added. “Everything was shaking after that.”
A separate mission to capture Venezuelan leader Maduro is also underway, Trump said at a news conference Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club, as explosions echoed through Caracas and surrounding cities.
The president said Maduro tried to enter the metal shelter but was unable to close the door, and at 2:01 a.m. local time a U.S. military helicopter landed and was detained by U.S. forces. In one video seen by CNN, a helicopter is seen moving towards the Fort Tiuna area.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Cain said that by 4:29 a.m. local time, U.S. forces had withdrawn “across the ocean” from Venezuela “with the indicted people on board.” President Trump told Fox News on Saturday that he watched the capture footage in real time “like a TV show.”
President Trump publicly announced the operation at 4:21 a.m. Venezuelan time in a post on Truth Social, saying that Maduro had been captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores. Sources told CNN that they were dragged from their bedrooms by elite US forces during the attack.
The US president said an image shared by Trump on Truth Social late Saturday showed Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima.
Maduro has now arrived in the United States and is expected to be arraigned on drug and weapons charges in Manhattan, U.S. officials said.
As the sun set in Venezuela, the damage caused by the night’s attacks became clear. Footage from the La Carlota Air Base location showed a Buk-M2 medium-range anti-aircraft missile launcher that appeared to be destroyed in the attack. Another video from Higuerote Airport showed extensive damage to buildings and destroyed aircraft, as well as what appeared to be a damaged air defense system. Satellite images of the airport seen by CNN show a crater on the runway and burn marks near damaged buildings.
Satellite image analysis revealed that the airstrike also caused significant damage to the Tiuna fortress, Venezuela’s largest military complex. In one photo provided by Vanter, a bunker next to a still-burning field appears to have been destroyed. It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Maduro was sheltering in this particular facility at the time. Several other structures at the site were also destroyed, including a vehicle shelter and a power plant, according to image analysis.
