In the early hours of January 3, 2026, the city of Caracas was jolted awake by a series of at least seven thunderous explosions, accompanied by the unmistakable roar of low-flying aircraft. According to the Associated Press, the blasts lasted less than half an hour but left an indelible mark on Venezuela’s capital, sending residents running into the streets in confusion and fear, and plunging several neighborhoods into darkness for hours afterward. Smoke and fire could be seen billowing from the vicinity of Fort Tiuna, the country’s largest military complex, while another military installation in the city was left without power.
The Venezuelan government, led by President Nicolás Maduro, wasted no time in pointing the finger squarely at the United States. In a statement released that morning, officials accused Washington of launching coordinated attacks on both civilian and military sites in Caracas as well as in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. The statement decried what it called “military aggression” and urged citizens to mobilize in the streets to denounce the assault. Maduro’s administration declared a national state of emergency, granting the president sweeping powers to suspend certain rights and expand the military’s role in the wake of what it called an “external disturbance.”
“People to the streets!” the government’s statement read. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”
For ordinary Venezuelans, the night was a terrifying ordeal. “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling as she hurried home with relatives after a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.” Her account, reported by multiple outlets including AFP and AP, was echoed by other residents who described seeing orange fireballs lighting up the sky and feeling the ground tremble beneath their feet.
The immediate aftermath saw confusion and uncertainty. State television continued its regular programming, while the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela—closed since 2019—issued a warning for American citizens to shelter in place. The Federal Aviation Administration, citing “ongoing military activity,” banned all U.S. commercial and private flights from Venezuelan airspace, extending the restriction to include the nearby island of Curacao.
While the White House and Pentagon initially declined to comment, a U.S. official speaking anonymously to Reuters confirmed that the United States had indeed carried out a strike inside Venezuela. CBS News later reported that President Donald Trump had personally ordered the strikes on Venezuelan sites. Trump himself, at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, had received an intelligence briefing the night prior but offered no immediate public comment.
The events in Caracas are the latest—and most dramatic—escalation in a months-long campaign of pressure by the Trump administration against Maduro’s government. Since early September 2025, the U.S. military has targeted boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which it claims are used for drug smuggling. According to figures released by the Trump administration, there have been at least 35 such strikes resulting in more than 115 deaths. The U.S. also seized two sanctioned oil tankers in December and imposed what Trump called a “total and complete blockade” on tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
President Trump has repeatedly justified these actions as part of a broader effort to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, labeling Maduro’s government as a “narcoterrorist” regime. In a statement last month, Trump warned, “If Maduro plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’ll ever be able to play tough.” He has also openly floated the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela, a threat that hung heavily in the air in the days leading up to the explosions.
The U.S. campaign has not been limited to maritime operations. Just a week before the Caracas explosions, the CIA reportedly conducted a drone strike on a docking area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels. This marked the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since the beginning of the strikes in September. The Trump administration’s actions have drawn sharp rebukes from Maduro, who has accused the U.S. of seeking to topple his government and seize Venezuela’s vast oil and mineral wealth.
“This could be something we talk about in a few days,” Maduro said cryptically when pressed in a January 1 interview about the CIA-led strike. He added, “It is clear that the U.S. seeks to impose itself on Venezuela through threats, intimidation, and force.” In the same interview, Maduro expressed a willingness to negotiate with Washington on combating drug trafficking, even as he insisted that the U.S. pressure campaign was aimed at regime change.
International reaction to the events in Caracas was swift. President Gustavo Petro of neighboring Colombia sounded the alarm on social media, stating, “Alert to the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela bombing with missiles,” and called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations. Iranian state television, reflecting the close ties between Tehran and Caracas, also broadcast images of the explosions, highlighting the global resonance of the crisis.
On the ground, the impact was immediate and palpable. Witnesses described the chaos of the night: “The skies started to light up. Then there was a ball of orange fire glowing. You can still hear planes flying over right now, although there have not been any explosions since then,” journalist Sisi De Flavis told Al Jazeera. Video footage showed balls of fire and thick smoke pouring from structures near bodies of water in Caracas, while the hangar at La Carlota airport was seen engulfed in smoke.
Despite the dramatic escalation, some questions remain unanswered. The full extent of the damage, the number of casualties—if any—and the precise targets of the strikes are still unclear. The Pentagon and the White House have maintained a tight-lipped stance, referring inquiries back and forth without offering substantive details. Meanwhile, parts of Caracas continued to experience blackouts and disruptions well into the morning, even as traffic resumed and the city’s residents attempted to make sense of the night’s events.
What is certain is that the situation marks a significant turning point in U.S.-Venezuelan relations, with the specter of further escalation looming large. As both governments dig in—one vowing resistance, the other promising continued pressure—the people of Venezuela are left to navigate the uncertainty and upheaval that have become all too familiar in recent years.
For now, Caracas remains tense, its skyline marked by the scars of a night that may well signal a new chapter in a long-running and bitter confrontation.
