As of January 3, 2026, the United States launched a major military operation against Venezuela, carrying out airstrikes on military targets across Caracas and nearby states like Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Witnesses reported at least seven powerful explosions rocking the capital in the early hours, with low-flying aircraft overhead, thick smoke rising from key bases such as La Carlota airport and Fuerte Tiuna, and large parts of the city plunged into darkness from power outages. President Donald Trump soon announced that U.S. special forces, likely including Delta Force, had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, extracting them from the country in an operation reminiscent of the 1989 Panama intervention.This bold strike marks a sharp escalation in the ongoing U.S. campaign known as Operation Southern Spear, which began as counter-narcotics actions but rapidly intensified with deadly attacks on over 30 suspected drug-smuggling vessels (killing more than 100 people), seizures of oil tankers, a naval blockade of sanctioned ships, and a late-December hit on a Venezuelan dock facility. The U.S. has long accused Maduro’s government of running a narco-state, indicting him on narco-terrorism charges and placing a $50 million bounty on his head, while framing the entire effort as protecting American interests from drug flows.Venezuelan authorities swiftly condemned the assault as blatant, unprovoked aggression, declaring a national state of emergency, mobilizing forces, and vowing fierce resistance against any foreign presence on their soil. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López called it a criminal regime-change invasion that desecrated sacred land, with reports of civilian areas hit and casualties mounting among military personnel and ordinary people. Some U.S. lawmakers questioned the lack of congressional approval for such direct intervention, highlighting concerns over unauthorized military action. With around 15,000 U.S. troops, the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group, and supporting air assets already positioned in the region, this targeted raid was feasible, though experts note the forces fall far short of what’s needed for a prolonged occupation. The events unfold rapidly, representing the most aggressive U.S. move in Latin America in decades.