BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
A series of explosions and the roar of low-flying aircraft jolted Venezuela’s capital in the early hours of Saturday, sending residents into the streets and raising fresh questions about security in a country already under intense international pressure.
At least seven blasts were heard around 2 a.m. local time across parts of Caracas, according to witnesses. The exact cause of the explosions was not immediately known, and no official explanation was offered in the hours that followed. Requests for comment from Venezuela’s government, the U.S. Department of Defense and the White House went unanswered.
Dark plumes of smoke were seen rising from a hangar at a military base in the capital, while a separate military installation elsewhere in Caracas reportedly lost power. The incidents prompted confusion and fear among residents, many of whom said the explosions were strong enough to shake buildings.
People in several neighborhoods rushed outside, gathering on sidewalks and streets as they tried to understand what was happening. From some areas of the sprawling city, distant flashes and aircraft could be seen or heard overhead.
“The whole ground shook. This is horrible,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker who was walking home with two relatives after attending a birthday celebration. “We heard explosions and planes. It felt like the air was hitting us,” she said, speaking quickly and visibly shaken.
Despite the disturbances, state television did not interrupt its regular programming, continuing to air a segment focused on Venezuelan music and art. No emergency alerts or official statements were broadcast during the night.
The explosions came against the backdrop of heightened regional tensions involving the United States and Venezuela. In recent days, the U.S. military has been conducting operations targeting what it says are drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. On Friday, Venezuelan authorities said the country was open to negotiating an agreement with Washington aimed at combating drug trafficking, a signal that contrasted sharply with the escalating military activity in the region.
President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly accused the United States of seeking to overthrow his government and gain control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. In a prerecorded interview aired Thursday, Maduro said a months-long pressure campaign by Washington, which began with a major U.S. military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August, was designed to force political change in Caracas.
Maduro has been charged in the United States with narco-terrorism allegations, which he and his government strongly deny. Last week, a drone strike hit a docking area believed by U.S. intelligence to be used by Venezuelan drug traffickers. That strike was attributed to the CIA and marked what officials described as the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since the start of maritime strikes on suspected smuggling boats in September.
U.S. President Donald Trump has for months warned that he could authorize strikes on targets inside Venezuela. His administration has already seized sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and ordered a blockade of others, moves widely seen as an effort to further tighten economic pressure on the South American nation.
Since early September, U.S. forces have carried out repeated attacks on vessels they accuse of trafficking drugs, primarily cocaine, toward the United States. According to figures released by the Trump administration, there have been 35 known boat strikes so far, with at least 115 people killed. The operations followed a significant buildup of American military assets near South America, including the deployment in November of the country’s most advanced aircraft carrier, adding thousands of troops to what officials describe as the largest U.S. military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has defended the strikes as a necessary escalation to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, arguing that Washington is engaged in an “armed conflict” with transnational drug organizations.
International attention to Saturday’s explosions extended beyond the Americas. Iranian state television reported on the blasts, broadcasting images of Caracas and noting the incidents without providing additional details. Iran has maintained close ties with Venezuela for years, in part because both governments share a deep hostility toward U.S. foreign policy.
As dawn broke over Caracas, residents were left with lingering anxiety and unanswered questions, while authorities remained silent on the cause of the explosions and whether further incidents could follow.
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