U.S. Airstrikes Begin in Venezuela

Darwin, 03 January: The United States has begun a military operation in Venezuela, according to the BBC’s U.S. partner CBS, which reported that President Donald Trump ordered strikes on military installations and other locations inside the country.

Loud explosions have already been heard in several areas of the capital, Caracas. CBS said airstrikes targeted civilian and military sites not only in the capital but also in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.

Details of casualties and damage were not immediately available. Power outages have been reported in several areas, and residents are said to be in a state of panic.

Venezuelan authorities strongly condemned what they described as U.S. military aggression and called on the international community to reject and denounce the attacks.

The government of President Nicolás Maduro characterized the strikes as an attempt to seize Venezuela’s strategic assets—particularly its oil and mineral resources—and to undermine the country’s political sovereignty. In a statement, the government said the objective of the attacks was to weaken Venezuela and advance the interests of foreign powers.

In response, President Maduro declared a nationwide state of emergency to address what he described as external destabilization. He signed a decree to bring the measure into force and ordered the implementation of all national defense plans as deemed necessary.

The government also urged all social and political forces in the country to unite, calling for the rapid activation of mobilization plans and for a public stand against what it described as an imperialist attack.

Venezuela’s opposition leader has expressed support for President Trump’s strategy. Opposition figure María Corina Machado told CBS News in mid-December that she fully supports President Trump’s approach toward Venezuela.

Shortly after the U.S. strikes on Venezuela began, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona wrote on X: “This war is illegal.”

The senator, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, described it as “the second unjustified war of my life.”

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah voiced skepticism. In a post on X, he said he was “eagerly awaiting an explanation of what constitutional justification exists for this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.”