Nicolas Maduro’s 12-year grip on Venezuela came to a stunning end after he was forced to surrender when finding himself on the wrong end of rifles capable of blasting 800 rounds a minute
US commandos obliterated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s’ bodyguards in a lightning raid that ended the dictator’s 12 years of terror within hours.
Operation Absolute Resolve will undoubtedly go down as one of the most effective raids carried out by the US since the end of the Cold War. Within just four-and-a-half hours, members of Delta Force crippled air defences in Caracas and gunned down a squad of elite Cuban guards protecting Maduro and his wife.
The stunning operation has drawn praise for its efficiency but world leaders have also been quick to call foul of the mission that bypassed Congressional approval and trampled over international law. US President Donald Trump had for months warned Venezuela’s leaders over its alleged role in flooding the country with deadly narcotics, a claim that has been hotly contested.
Here The Mirror breaks down the key moments from the stunning operation.
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Top Secret plan and smokescreen
For months, Trump administration officials kept plans for the raid under wraps in a bid to maintain the element of surprise. In the lead up to the raid, the Trump administration did not notify the so-called “gang of eight” leaders of America’s main parties who are usually notified about national security issues.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly gave an update to members of Congress, where he claimed any operation in Venezuela was about tackling drug traffickers and not about regime change.
Under US law, Congress must approve or wars abroad, though there have been cases where presidents have carried out military action without consulting Senators and Representatives. Numerous American outlets knew about the raid but held off on reporting as not to impact national security and put American lives at risk.
With a plan in place, special forces commandos got to work preparing for the raid.
Life-sized model made of Maduro’s fortress
US special forces built a life-size replica of Maduro’s “fortress” home as they prepared to snatch the dictator in the middle of the night. The small team learned the 63-year-old’s movements, including where he slept and what he ate on a daily basis.
The crack team analysed the safe house, learning the best routes in and ways they could quickly extract Maduro out from Caracas. Special forces members, including a spy within the Venezuelan government, spent months learning the layout of Maduro’s lair.
Waiting for perfect moment
General Dan Caine, the highest-ranking military officer in the US, revealed the operation was ready to go days before the successful extraction but that they waited for the perfect moment to strike. Trump gave approval four days before, although his staff chose to wait for better weather and cloud cover.
Despite the delay, the US maintained the element of surprise and deployed in the darkness after Trump again gave approval before midnight on January 2. Gen Caine added: “He said to us, and we appreciate it… good luck and Godspeed.”
What followed was a two-hour-and-20-minute mission that utilised forces on air, land and sea that proved to be one of the most audacious since the end of the Cold War.
Dozens killed in lightning barrage
Some 150 military aircraft, several of which were fighter jets and bombers, that launched from 20 bases and US Navy vessels across the Caribbean region. A lightning barrage of strikes were carried out on targets in Caracas with officials estimating around 40 people, some of whom were civilians, were killed in the raid.
Explosions rocked the city with massive plumes of smoke rising as F-35 stealth fighters, F-22 Raptors and Navy F-18 Hornets flew overhead. The aircraft swiftly obliterated Venezuela’s air defences, rendering the capital at America’s mercy.
Caracas’ largest military complex, Fuerte Tiuna, was blown apart alongside several defence installation at the capital’s La Guaira airport. Sources told The Sun that US Nancy destroyers blew apart Russian surface-to-air missile batteries using Tomahawk missiles.
‘Dark and deadly’
Operation Absolute Resolve further spun Maduro’s forces into a confusing tizzy when the US cut power to Caracas. President Trump described the move as “dark and deadly.”
The power cut and strikes on air defences cleared a path for the helicopters carrying special forces.
Daring Night raid
The barrage rendered Caracas defenceless to the might of the US special forces who honed in on their target, Maduro. Members of the crack Delta Force hitched rides on MH-60 Black Hawks and MH-47 Chinooks that took off from the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier.
The helicopters navigated their way toward Maduro’s compound using thermal night vision and radar to safely make it through the mountainous valleys that encircle Caracas. They hit their destination just after 2am on January 2am with Delta Forces soldiers and FBI operatives quick to storm Maduro’s headquarters.
Aircraft provided ample cover via strikes as the teams moved in on Maduro’s safe house. By 2:30am they made their way inside.
Maduro’s guards obliterated
Delta Force was immediately met by Maduro’s bodyguard, hired Cuban elite Avispas Negras special forces, but dispatched the crack squad by peppering them with their HK416 assault rifles. The firearms are capable of unleashing an astonishing 800 rounds every minute.
Leaving a bloody trail in their wake, the special forces rapidly covered ground using their knowledge of the layout and took out any defenders along the way. They soon entered Maduro’s bedroom and came face-to-face with the dictator, all without losing a single soldier.
Nowhere to hide
Caught completely unaware as they slept, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores attempted in vain to retreat to a panic room but they were intercepted before they could make it inside the steel-reinforced space. Trump said the pair were quick to give up when staring down the barrel of the special forces’ rifles., though he added it would have only taken “47 seconds” to get them out if they made it inside.
The pair were forcibly removed from the complex and were inside a Chinook helicopter around 4:29am. They were then taken to the USS Iwo Jima that was waiting for them in the Caribbean.
Maduro’s public humiliation
With Maduro secured, the US released era-defining pictures of the dictator who kept Venezuela in his grip for 12 years. Images showed Maduro shackled in handcuffs and wearing a blackout blindfold as well as ear protectors.
Dethroned Maduro was then flown to the US Navy base at the infamous Guantánamo Bay on the island of Cuba. He was then transported to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York before being taken by helicopter to Manhattan.
Attorney General Pam Bondi then said: “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.” By Saturday night, the pair were hauled into cells at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Mission accomplished
President Trump was keen to gloat over how troops quickly extracted Maduro before raising concerns among world leaders over his seeming new goal of securing oil from the resource rich nation. He said the US would be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry, which has one of the world’s largest reserves of the black gold.
Trump hinted US firms would rebuild the country’s infrastructure and that they US would be “running” the country temporarily. He added: “We have the greatest oil companies in the world – the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”
