In the early hours of Saturday, January 3, 2026, Venezuela was rocked by a series of explosions and military strikes that signaled a dramatic escalation in tensions with the United States. According to multiple reports from venezuelanalysis.com, Reuters, and Associated Press, the attacks targeted both military and civilian infrastructure, including the prominent Fuerte Tiuna military base in Caracas as well as the port in La Guaira. Residents across the capital and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira were jolted awake by at least seven explosions and the unmistakable roar of low-flying aircraft.
Social media quickly lit up with videos and firsthand accounts. Witnesses described the ground shaking and the sky illuminated by bursts of fire. "The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance," one Caracas resident told AP. Others reported helicopters circling overhead, with military analysts suggesting that U.S. Special Forces may have been deployed as part of the operation.
While the full extent of the damage and casualties remains unclear, the attacks triggered widespread power outages in several neighborhoods, as reported by CNN. People poured into the streets, some seeking safety, others simply trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding around them. The sense of shock was palpable, but so too was a growing anger and resolve.
The Venezuelan government wasted no time in responding. In a statement published on state outlets and echoed by AFP, officials accused the United States of violating the United Nations Charter and threatening regional peace. The statement read: "The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack." President Nicolás Maduro declared a nationwide state of "External Commotion"—a national emergency—ordering the immediate activation of defense plans and the deployment of the armed forces. The government also called for popular mobilization and announced plans to lodge formal complaints with international bodies, including the United Nations.
These strikes did not come out of nowhere. For months, tensions between Washington and Caracas have been simmering, occasionally boiling over into open hostility. Since August 2025, the U.S. has steadily increased its military presence in the Caribbean, as Reuters and venezuelanalysis.com documented. The Trump administration, returning to office in 2025, ratcheted up regime-change rhetoric and openly vowed to strike land targets in Venezuela. In November, President Trump posted on Truth Social, warning that Venezuela's airspace should be closed to airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers—a not-so-veiled threat that foreshadowed the events to come.
Before the strikes on Caracas, U.S. aggression had largely played out offshore. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard sank suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and seized oil tankers off Venezuela's coast. According to WLRN and NBC News, almost 40 vessels were destroyed and 115 suspected traffickers killed in these operations since September 2025. The campaign intensified in December, when a U.S. drone strike—reportedly using AGM-114 Hellfire missiles—hit a suspected drug-trafficking launch base near the Gulf of Venezuela, close to the Colombian border. Indigenous Venezuelans on the northwest coast told NBC News and Telemundo they witnessed a massive explosion, while military experts cited by WLRN suggested that a surprise U.S. fighter jet foray into Venezuelan airspace earlier that month was likely a reconnaissance mission for the subsequent bombing.
President Trump himself confirmed the December strike, while Venezuela’s President Maduro responded by expressing a willingness to negotiate with the U.S. on anti-drug trafficking efforts. However, the Trump administration showed no interest in dialogue, insisting that Maduro’s regime is deeply enmeshed in the narco-mafia it claims to be fighting. Instead, U.S. officials unveiled "Operation Southern Spear," a mission Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as an effort to protect "America’s neighborhood" from "narco-terrorists." The operation, which includes covert CIA activity, has come under scrutiny from legal experts, who point out that international law treats traffickers as civilian criminals, not military targets. The U.S., however, has designated them as "narco-terrorist combatants," raising thorny questions about the legality of its actions.
The overnight strikes in Caracas marked a turning point. According to Reuters and FOX News, the Pentagon and White House did not immediately comment on the attacks, but a U.S. official reportedly told Reuters that the U.S. military was indeed behind the strikes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded by banning U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace due to "ongoing military activity." Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sounded the alarm on social media, posting, "Right now they are bombing Caracas. Alert to the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela. They are bombing with missiles. The OAS and the UN must meet immediately."
As the world watched, the Maduro government’s response was both defiant and urgent. In its statement, it called for mass mobilization, urging "people to the streets" to defend the nation’s sovereignty. The declaration of a state of "external disturbance" was accompanied by a broader appeal to international law and the authority of the United Nations. The government’s message was clear: this was not just an attack on Venezuela, but a violation of the norms that underpin global order.
Yet, for many Venezuelans, the immediate concern was survival. Power outages, fear of further strikes, and the uncertainty of what might come next left Caracas and other affected regions on edge. The sense of crisis was compounded by the months of economic pressure, including the U.S. blockade of oil tankers and the ongoing campaign against the country’s vital energy sector.
The situation remains fluid. As of Saturday morning, there was still no official word on casualties or the full extent of the damage. Videos circulating online, some verified and others not, showed the aftermath of the explosions and the anxiety gripping the population. International reactions ranged from condemnation to calls for urgent diplomatic intervention, but the prospect of a quick resolution seems remote.
For now, Venezuela stands at a crossroads, its government rallying supporters and appealing to the world, while the United States doubles down on its strategy of military pressure and economic isolation. The events of January 3, 2026, have pushed an already volatile relationship to the brink, with consequences that could reverberate far beyond the Caribbean basin.
As the dust settles and the world takes stock, the people of Venezuela are left to navigate the fallout of a conflict that shows no signs of abating.
