What I’ve found so far: CNN has a team present in Caracas and witnessed the strikes.
7 explosions reported - likely missile strikes to disable air defense
2 (correction: many more) smoke plumes reported - likely from sites struck with missiles
a flight of helicopters which could be MH60 Sea Hawk - nothing very impressive, a random civilian filmed them going low and slow, MANPADS fodder but it seems they got lucky on that leg of the run
(Some X account posted footage from the Iranian attack on Israel and claimed it to be Venezuela.)
Opinion:
So it’s international agression then. Taking out air defense and inserting helicopters over the capital of another country is generally considered an act of war. I guess Trump thinks he needs a war for some reason. It might be smart to prevent him from getting a full-scale one - and the next best thing that might dissuade him might be casualties.
An extremely unpleasant side effect: unless Maduro stumbles and falls really quick, he’s pretty much legitimizing Maduro and causing his supporters to consolidate around him. In the game of diplomacy, that’s not the right move.
Some other countries would certainly benefit from Trump getting bogged down anywhere, in any country. Especially a large and technically sophisticated country which wants to annex an island well known for its electronic products would approve of the US going on adventures in random places and getting bogged down.
Trump is good friends with Saudis. The Saudis bring in billions every day because of their oil. Trump covets that, and wishes he had that.
Venezuela is sitting above the largest oil deposit on the planet. Trump wants it. If he can control Venezuela, he can control that oil, and be as rich as the Saudis.
It’s always easy with Trump. Just follow the money.
Not always. Sometimes Trumps motivation is using the adoration of the crowd to fill the hole in his heart from not being love enough as a child. Expect him to be peacocking around in front of news cameras expecting everyone to gush over him.
a flight of helicopters which could be MH60 Sea Hawk - nothing very impressive, a random civilian filmed them going low and slow, MANPADS fodder but it seems they got lucky on that leg of the run
It seems like those helicopters carried special forces that are now on the ground and doing what they are there to do.
It seems like those helicopters carried special forces that are now on the ground and doing what they are there to do.
It actually seems they hit the jackpot - they claim to have taken Maduro prisoner and claim to have taken him out of the country.
If all of that is true, I’m still not sure if I’m impressed by the operation. A loose grid of guys with shoulder-launched missiles on a few rooftops could have ruined absolutely all of it.
But if they got in without getting shot down, got Maduro and got out without getting shot down, then luck favoured them and war will hopefully not ensue.
Maduro had likely built everything on personal loyalty to himself. A normal country would continue fighting and delegate authority downward, but Maduro wasn’t running a normal country, apparently.
Seems like everything went smooth and that Maduro is gone from power now. It is good that Maduro is gone but we’ll see what happens with Venezuela now, hopefully it becomes better but I’m far from certain about that.
Since I find that my own optimism was premature (I should cross out my last paragraph), I will cool your optimism too. As much as I currently understand, Maduro is gone, but the ministers of interior and defense, and the vice president, are fine. The figurehead is gone, the regime is armed and retains power.
Didn’t Trump say that US will take control over Venezuela for now? In that case I assume the regime will fall.
But he says a lot of things, so who knows what that means? Maybe he made a deal with the vice president etc. that they can rule as long as he gets some money from the oil.
What I’ve found so far: CNN has a team present in Caracas and witnessed the strikes.
(Some X account posted footage from the Iranian attack on Israel and claimed it to be Venezuela.)
Opinion:
So it’s international agression then. Taking out air defense and inserting helicopters over the capital of another country is generally considered an act of war. I guess Trump thinks he needs a war for some reason. It might be smart to prevent him from getting a full-scale one - and the next best thing that might dissuade him might be casualties.
An extremely unpleasant side effect: unless Maduro stumbles and falls really quick, he’s pretty much legitimizing Maduro and causing his supporters to consolidate around him. In the game of diplomacy, that’s not the right move.
Some other countries would certainly benefit from Trump getting bogged down anywhere, in any country. Especially a large and technically sophisticated country which wants to annex an island well known for its electronic products would approve of the US going on adventures in random places and getting bogged down.
I can think of at least one
Only one?
Trump’s Approval Rating Drops to 36%, New Second-Term Low
President Trump Quips About Canceling 2028 Elections If U.S. Is At War
Nah, at least one 😆
Trump is good friends with Saudis. The Saudis bring in billions every day because of their oil. Trump covets that, and wishes he had that.
Venezuela is sitting above the largest oil deposit on the planet. Trump wants it. If he can control Venezuela, he can control that oil, and be as rich as the Saudis.
It’s always easy with Trump. Just follow the money.
Not always. Sometimes Trumps motivation is using the adoration of the crowd to fill the hole in his heart from not being love enough as a child. Expect him to be peacocking around in front of news cameras expecting everyone to gush over him.
Can’t forget the need for petty revenge. He is a small, petty man.
Valid.
Valid.
It seems like those helicopters carried special forces that are now on the ground and doing what they are there to do.
It actually seems they hit the jackpot - they claim to have taken Maduro prisoner and claim to have taken him out of the country.
If all of that is true, I’m still not sure if I’m impressed by the operation. A loose grid of guys with shoulder-launched missiles on a few rooftops could have ruined absolutely all of it.
But if they got in without getting shot down, got Maduro and got out without getting shot down, then luck favoured them and war will hopefully not ensue.
Maduro had likely built everything on personal loyalty to himself. A normal country would continue fighting and delegate authority downward, but Maduro wasn’t running a normal country, apparently.
Seems like everything went smooth and that Maduro is gone from power now. It is good that Maduro is gone but we’ll see what happens with Venezuela now, hopefully it becomes better but I’m far from certain about that.
Since I find that my own optimism was premature (I should cross out my last paragraph), I will cool your optimism too. As much as I currently understand, Maduro is gone, but the ministers of interior and defense, and the vice president, are fine. The figurehead is gone, the regime is armed and retains power.
Didn’t Trump say that US will take control over Venezuela for now? In that case I assume the regime will fall. But he says a lot of things, so who knows what that means? Maybe he made a deal with the vice president etc. that they can rule as long as he gets some money from the oil.
In the videos I saw, the helicopters were twin-rotor design. Some variant of the CH-47 Chinook.