A roar woke up Venezuelans in Caracas around two in the morning this Saturday. Many wondered if it had been an earthquake, a traffic accident, and were finally perplexed when they learned the true reason for these unexpected and surprising explosions: a US bombing in various parts of the country’s capital. After months of siege in the Caribbean and a verbal escalation of tension, the president Donald Trump launched his announced attack against Nicolas Maduro.
The scope of the event transcended the national territory, since Venezuelan migrants – many of them forced to leave their country due to the humanitarian crisis in recent years – also woke up, this time to calls from family and friends reporting about the bombings and the noise from aircraft overflight in Caracas.
A person consulted by EFE, who asked not to be identified, said that he woke up to a buzzing sound and seconds later he heard a first explosion, which produced vibrations in the window of his room.
“I know the sound of fighter planes from the rehearsals they usually do for military parades, but I had never felt an explosion like that. Then I thought ‘now, they’ve arrived,'” he said, referring to the entry of United States aircraft into Venezuela.
Another source consulted by EFE said that, around 1:45 local time, he was watching a series when he also felt a vibration in his bedroom window, but thought it was a traffic accident.
“Seconds later I heard sounds of planes and different explosions,” said the person, who also requested condition of anonymity.
“The anxiety was so great that it caused me to sweat and I had to bathe in the early morning,” he added.
At least five explosions were heard in Caracasalthough some claim to have heard twenty, which led Venezuelans to leave their homes to record with photos and videos what they saw in their surroundings. There are those who reported smelling gunpowder in the air.
The television channels did not immediately report the incident, so users turned to the traditional means of information on social networks, where viralized videos and photos of alleged aircraft flying over Caracas were shared, as well as fires and columns of smoke supposedly caused by the bombings.
Venezuela confirmed the attack in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua, all in the north of the country, and declared for the first time in history a state of external shock to protect the national territory and move “immediately to the armed struggle”, as promised by Maduro, whom Trump claimed to have captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to the United States and will be tried in New York for various crimes related to drug trafficking and weapons possession, according to Washington.
The executive vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, demanded proof of life from Maduro and Flores, something that the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, also did, who held the United States Government responsible for what may happen to the Chavista leader.
Venezuela remains waiting for what may happen in the coming hours, with Caracas where businesses remain mostly closed, with little traffic of people and cars, including the absence of public transportation activity, while the United States assures that Maduro and Flores will be tried in a federal court in New York.