On Jan. 3, Eduardo Jaime — a Venezuelan who lives in Colombia — was visiting family in Caracas for the holidays when explosions lit up the sky just after 2 a.m.
His brother recorded a video showing flashes of light and loud blasts from U.S. airstrikes as the city plunged into chaos.
Jaime recalls the moment the attacks began: “I heard a boom that wasn’t a firework. It was a really, really, really loud boom.”
Within hours, the White House confirmed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. U.S. officials said the strikes were part of a coordinated military operation targeting Venezuelan air defenses to clear the way for American special forces. They also said the operation, planned over several months, was carried out to enforce longstanding U.S. criminal indictments against Maduro, including narcotrafficking charges.
