Venezuela’s authoritarian government has accused the US of launching a series of attacks against civilian and military targets in the South American country, after explosions rocked its capital, Caracas, before dawn on Saturday.
In a statement, Venezuela’s government urged citizens to rise up against the assault and said Washington risked plunging Latin America into chaos with “an extremely serious” act of “military aggression”.
“The entire country must mobilise to defeat this imperialist aggression,” it added.
US media reported that Donald Trump had ordered the strikes against the South American country.
Explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas in the early hours of Saturday. In its statement, Venezuela’s government confirmed that the city had come under attack, as well as three other states: Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua.
“The only objective of this attack is to seize control of Venezuela’s strategic resources, in particular its oil and minerals,” it said, calling on the international community to denounce what it called a flagrant violation of international law that put millions of lives at risk.
The president of neighbouring Colombia, Gustavo Petro, claimed on social media that Venezuela was coming under attack. “Right now they are bombing Caracas … bombing it with missiles,” Petro wrote on X, calling for an immediate emergency session of the UN security council.
Soon after CBS News reported that Trump had had ordered the attacks – including on military facilities. The White House and Pentagon did not respond to request for comment.
At least seven explosions were heard about 2am local time and people in various neighbourhoods rushed to the street, the Associated Press reported. “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke pouring from two key military installations in Caracas: the La Carlota military airfield at the heart of the city and the Fuerte Tiuna military base where Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, has long been thought to live. Another important airport to the east of Caracas, Higuerote, also appeared to come under attack.
The explosions come after a five-month US pressure campaign against Maduro, which many analysts believe is designed to topple the Venezuelan leader. Since August, Donald Trump has ordered a massive military buildup off Venezuela’s northern coast and conducted a series of deadly airstrikes on supposed “narco boats”.
Trump has repeatedly promised land operations in Venezuela, amid efforts to pressure Maduro to leave office, including expanded sanctions, a ramped-up US military presence in the region and more than two dozen strikes on vessels allegedly involved in trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
The US has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.
This is a developing story …
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