Blowtorches And Blackouts: How US Forces Captured Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro | Inside Operation Absolute Resolve

New Delhi: The covert US military mission, Operation Absolute Resolve, that plucked Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro from power and removed him from the country, was the result of months of surveillance, rehearsals and interagency coordination.

US President Donald Trump, taking to his Truth Social platform, announced US had carried out Operation Absolute Resolve, a covert mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, capping months of secret planning by US military and intelligence agencies.

The capture of Nicolas Maduro was a meticulously timed military operation as it was carried out after the weather conditions aligned to allow helicopters and aircraft to penetrate Venezuelan airspace undetected, said the US officials.

After series of attack, Maduro and his wife were in US custody and en route out of the country.

Planning for months

US military leaders highlighted how months were spent by intelligence agencies tracking Maduro’s movements, routines and security details.

US special forces carried out an extensive, highly coordinated operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, following repeated rehearsals on a full-scale replica of the presidential compound, including reinforced safe rooms.

Trump said the troops were equipped with heavy-duty blowtorches to breach steel walls if required. He stated that a mock-up identical to the target compound had been built for training and claimed Maduro was apprehended before he could reach a secure room.

Operation unfolded late at night

The operation to capture Maduro was carried late at night after days of delay caused by cloud cover. Shielded by US aircraft overhead, the helicopters, in a bid to evade detection flew low over water, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine said.

Highlighting the scale of operation, Caine added more than 150 aircraft were involved, launching from multiple locations across the Western Hemisphere.

Adding further, Trump said parts of Caracas were plunged into darkness using US technical capabilities, though he did not disclose further details.

Trump monitored the raid live from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida alongside senior advisers.

Forces reach Maduro's compound

The apprehension team after reaching Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern time, or 2:01 a.m. local time in Caracas secured the area and extracted Maduro and Flores with what officials described as speed and precision.

During the raid, at least seven explosions were reported across the Venezuelan capital.

Mission integrated air, ground, maritime

Highlighting further, Caine said the mission integrated air, ground, maritime, space and intelligence assets, with support from multiple US agencies. He noted that failure in any single component could have jeopardised the entire operation.

Trump praising the military performance said “No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday.”

Us Plans To ‘Run’ Venezuela

Hours after an audacious military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations. 

The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on the South American nation and its autocratic leader, and months of secret planning resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

US Pressure on Maduro

The operation followed a months-long Trump administration effort to exert pressure on the Venezuelan leader, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, accused of carrying drugs.

Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.

Maduro had decried prior military operations as a thinly veiled effort to topple him from power.

What happened in Venezuela

Early Saturday, multiple explosions rang out, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the U.S. of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. 

The assault lasted less than 30 minutes, and the explosions, at least seven blasts, sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.

Where is Maduro?

Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were first taken aboard a U.S. warship on their way to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were first taken aboard a U.S. warship on their way to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

A plane carrying the deposed leader landed around 4:30 p.m. Saturday at an airport in New York City’s northern suburbs.

After being escorted, flown by helicopter to Manhattan, where a convoy of law enforcement vehicles, including an armoured car, was waiting to whisk him to a nearby U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office. A video posted on social media by a White House account showed Maduro, smiling, as he was escorted through that office by two DEA agents grasping his arms.

He was expected to be detained while awaiting trial at a federal jail in Brooklyn. U.S. officials didn’t immediately confirm Maduro was at the jail, but the same motorcade of vehicles that brought him to the DEA office from the heliport was seen arriving at the detention centre Saturday evening.

Also Read: Us Plans To ‘Run’ Venezuela And Tap Its Oil Reserves, After Operation To Oust Maduro: US President Trump