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Venezuela accused the US of attacking the country after several explosions in Caracas and residents reported dozens of planes flying low over the capital.
Videos posted on social media showed a series of attacks on the Venezuelan military complex Fuerte Tiuna, west of Caracas, as well as the military airport in La Carlota in the center of the capital at about 2 a.m. local time on Saturday. There was power failure in many areas.
The Venezuelan government urged its supporters to take to the streets. “The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack,” it said. statement,
The statement said the attacks had occurred in Caracas, as well as the nearby states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, and that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered the implementation of all national defense plans” and declared a “state of external disturbance.”
The Pentagon referred inquiries to the White House, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the AP news agency.
CBS News quoted US officials as saying that President Donald Trump had ordered the attack days earlier, but other military operations took priority and then the plan was delayed due to weather.
The Federal Aviation Administration banned US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace, citing “flight safety risks” due to “ongoing military activity”.
The attack was launched after the White House stepped up pressure on Maduro’s regime, with Trump this week announcing a “complete blockade” of US-sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The US president has threatened for months that he could order attacks on targets on Venezuelan soil. US forces have been attacking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September. According to the Trump administration, there have been nearly three dozen boat attacks that have killed more than 100 people.
The attacks coincide with a large gathering of US forces in the Caribbean, including America’s largest aircraft carrier. Late last month, the US also attacked a “docking area” in Venezuela.
Maduro, who has been designated a “foreign terrorist” by the Trump administration as the head of a drug cartel, has described the US naval buildup as a pretext for his ouster.
Gustavo Petro, president of neighboring Colombia, said his country was following the incidents with “deep concern” and posted a list on social media of attacks he had confirmed. These sites included a series of military installations around Caracas, as well as the country’s National Assembly building.
A government official in Spain, which has important commercial and diplomatic ties with Venezuela, said: “We can only confirm that it was an airstrike.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, Venezuela’s closest ally, said Havana “strongly condemned” the attacks, calling them a “cowardly” act against a country that “has not attacked the US or any other country”.
Additional reporting by Barney Jopson in Madrid
