At least seven explosions accompanied by the sound of low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear, and there was no immediate response from Venezuela's government, the Pentagon, or the White House.
As the noises rippled through the city, people in several neighborhoods rushed out into the streets in fear and confusion. Witnesses from different parts of Caracas reported seeing activity unfolding in the distance, unsure of what was happening or what might come next. This comes amid recent U.S. military operations in the region, where forces have been targeting boats involved in drug smuggling.
Explosions Rock Caracas
The developments come at a sensitive moment. On Friday, Venezuela said it was willing to negotiate an agreement with the United States aimed at tackling drug trafficking. At the same time, President Nicolás Maduro claimed in a pre-recorded interview aired Thursday that Washington is trying to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to the country's vast oil reserves.
He described the effort as part of a months-long pressure campaign that began in August, when the U.S. launched a large military deployment to the Caribbean Sea.
Maduro himself faces narco-terrorism charges in the United States. Meanwhile, reports indicate the CIA was behind a drone strike last week on a docking area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats began in September.
For months, U.S. President Donald Trump had warned that he might order strikes on targets inside Venezuela. In that time, the United States has also seized oil tankers off Venezuela's coast that were under sanctions, while Trump moved to block others — steps widely seen as an effort to further tighten economic pressure on the country.
Signs of Rising Tension
Since early September, the U.S. military has been carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. By Friday, there had been 35 confirmed strikes, with at least 115 people killed, according to figures released by the Trump administration.
The strikes came after a significant buildup of U.S. forces in waters off South America, including the arrival in November of America's most advanced aircraft carrier. Its deployment brought thousands of additional troops to what officials describe as the largest U.S. military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has defended the attacks on boats as a necessary step to curb the flow of drugs into the United States, arguing that the country is effectively engaged in an "armed conflict" with powerful drug cartels.
As tensions continued to rise, Iranian state television reported on Saturday's explosions in Caracas, broadcasting images from the Venezuelan capital. Iran has maintained close ties with Venezuela for years, a relationship shaped in part by their shared opposition to the United States.
