“We strongly condemn the ongoing military aggression by the #USA against #Venezuela. The bombings and acts of war against Caracas and other locations in the country are cowardly acts against a nation that has not attacked the US or any other country,” the Foreign Minister stated.
The Cuban government strongly condemned the recent air strikes carried out by the United States against Venezuelan territory, calling them an act of state terrorism and a flagrant violation of the South American nation’s sovereignty.
Havana demanded an urgent response from the international community to what it described as a “criminal attack” that threatens the stability of the region and violates the principles of the Zone of Peace proclaimed by Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Our Zone of Peace is being brutally attacked. It is an act of aggression against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” the statement emphasized.
Cuba reiterated its unconditional solidarity with Venezuela and reaffirmed its commitment to defending the self-determination of peoples.
Homeland or Death, We Will Win!, the message concludes.
jdt/mem/lld
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“Our #ZoneOfPeace is being brutally assaulted. State terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” the Cuban president emphasized in a post on the social network X.
Early Saturday morning, loud explosions were heard in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Shortly afterward, in a statement, the Bolivarian government confirmed the attacks perpetrated by the United States against the territory of the South American nation and called on its population to mobilize against the imperialist aggression.
The incident is generating widespread condemnation of the criminal action by the United States.
jdt/jha/lld
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On his social media account, the parliamentary leader echoed Cuba’s condemnation, calling on the international community to reject the military aggression by the United States government against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
“Latin America and the Caribbean is a Zone of Peace,” the president of the Cuban parliament emphasized.
Earlier, President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez demanded an urgent response to the bombings early Saturday morning, calling them an act of state terrorism and a flagrant violation of the South American nation’s sovereignty.
Havana demanded an urgent response from the international community to what it described as a “criminal attack” that threatens the stability of the region and violates the principles of the Zone of Peace proclaimed by Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Our Zone of Peace is being brutally assaulted. It is an act of aggression against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” the statement emphasized.
Cuba reiterated its unconditional solidarity with Venezuela and reaffirmed its commitment to defending the self-determination of peoples. “Homeland or Death, We Will Win!” the message declared.
jdt/mem/lld
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Explosions were reported at key military bases and other sites across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and surrounding areas in the early hours of Saturday, January 3. The Venezuelan government said in an official statement that it was an attack perpetrated by the United States and constitutes a “grave military aggression” against “Venezuelan territory and population”.
In a post on his Truth Social platform after the attack, Trump said that the Venezuelan president had been removed from the country by the US, with more details to come in a press conference in Mar-a-Lago at 11 am.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez spoke to Telesur and confirmed that “Following this brutal situation and brutal attack, we are unaware of the whereabouts of the President Nicolás Maduro and that of the First Lady Cilia Flores.”
Rodríguez demanded that the Trump administration “provide immediate proof of the life of President Maduro and of the first lady.”
She addressed the Venezuelan people and informed that, “President Maduro was already very clear and had already warned the Venezuelan people that an attack of this type could take place because of the United States’ desperate greed for energy [resources] … He has given very clear instructions to the Bolivarian Armed Forces so that in perfect military, popular, and police unity, all plans to defend the homeland would be activated … We demand respect for international law. We condemn this brutal and savage aggression against our people that has cost the life of officials, members of the military, that become martyrs of our homeland, and that has cost the lives of innocent Venezuelan civilians.”
Rodríguez declared: “We will defend our homeland. No one can undermine the historic legacy of our liberator Simón Bolívar. The Venezuelan people in perfect national unity should be active to defend its natural resources, and should be active to defend the most sacred that a homeland can have, which is its right to independence, its right to the future, its right to have a free homeland without any of external tutelage and not becoming anyone’s colony. We will never again be slaves, We are sons and daughters of Bolívar. And we once again demand an immediate sign of life of Nicolás Maduro and a sign of life of the first lady, the first combatant, Cilia Flores.”
The airstrikes come after repeated threats by US President Donald Trump that his government would soon carry out “land strikes” against Venezuela. The first of which reportedly occurred on December 30, when Trump announced that the US had bombed a docking facility on the coast of Venezuela.
An “attempt to impose a colonial war”
The government in Caracas has called the bombing campaign an imperialist attack by the United States and an attempt to “impose a colonial war”.
“The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources,” reads the communiqué. “Particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the political independence of the Nation.”
According to sources in Venezuela, the targeted sites include:
- Tiuna Fort – major military complex in the southwest of Caracas
- La Carlota Base – airbase/airport in Caracas
- La Guaira Port and Naval Command – port facility and naval command located in La Guaira state
- Higuerote Airport – airport in the coastal town of Higuerote, in the state of Miranda
María Corina Machado, the far-right Venezuelan opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, told CBS News in mid-December she was fully supportive of Washington’s recent strategy against her country. When asked if she’d welcome US military action in Venezuela, the Nobel laureate did not rule it out.
“I will welcome more and more pressure so that Maduro understands that he has to go,” she said.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López reported in a statement two hours after the attacks that “missiles and explosives were launched from US helicopters and aircraft,” and that civilian areas were also hit in the attacks. As of now, the casualties are still being counted.
In response, the Venezuelan government has activated all of its national defense plans “to guarantee peace and sovereignty” and “to immediately transition to armed struggle”.
“Today, with the spirit of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence in the face of imperial aggression.”
From boat strikes and piracy to open war
The US airstrikes are a massive escalation in its recent military campaign against the Bolivarian nation.
In December, the US began seizing Venezuelan oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea by force, as Trump bragged that they would “keep the oil”. The Maduro government called the seizures of oil “acts of piracy”. The White House, on the other hand, continued pursuing Venezuelan oil ships, claiming that the nationalization of Venezuelan oil in the 1970s amounted to “theft” from the United States.
This justification confirmed suspicions, both in Caracas and around the world, that the recent US aggression against the South American nation is driven by economic factors rather than national security concerns or drug trafficking.
Read more: “Venezuela will never again be a colony”: Maduro government denounces Trump’s oil blockade
Since September, 2025, the US military has carried out at least 35 boat strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific against alleged drug traffickers which have claimed the lives of at least 115 Colombian, Trinidadian, and Venezuelan citizens. The unilateral strikes have been widely condemned as extrajudicial executions.
On December 16, 2025, when announcing the naval blockade on Venezuela, Trump declared that because of the “theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.”
Although an FTO designation does not authorize military force or war, the Trump administration appears to have used it to attempt to build a legal case for escalation, while bypassing traditional constitutional and congressional checks on war powers.
International condemnation
The reported attacks have already been met with widespread international and domestic condemnation, with many citing that the attacks are a flagrant violation of the UN Charter as well as US law.
Cuba
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel declared that “Cuba denounces and demands an URGENT reaction from the international community against the criminal attack of the US against Venezuela.” The Cuban leader also emphasized that the attack is against the entire region, “Our Zone of Peace is being brutally attacked. State terrorism against the strong Venezuelan people and against Our America.”
Similarly, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stated that Cuba “strongly condemns the ongoing military aggression by the US against Venezuela. The bombings and acts of war against Caracas and other locations in the country are cowardly acts against a nation that has not attacked the US or any other country.”
Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared a statement from his government expressing “deep concern” about the attacks and rejecting “any unilateral military action that can worsen the situation [in the region] or put the civilian population at risk”. “The Colombian Republic reiterates its conviction that peace, respect of international law, and the protection of life and human dignity should prevail over any form of armed confrontation,” the statement reads.
Petro also called on the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) to meet as soon as possible.
Opposition has also been voiced by left parties across the world.
India
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) wrote in a statement, “We strongly condemn the United States’ military aggression and intimidation against Venezuela, which violates international law, the UN Charter, and the principle of national sovereignty. These actions reflect the US’s long-standing imperialist policy of intervention and coercion aimed at destabilising independent nations and controlling their resources. We stand in solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela.”
Türkiye
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) Kemal Okuyan condemned the attacks against Venezuela in a statement and declared that “now is the time to stand in solidarity with the people of Venezuela.”
Palestine
Palestinian groups including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have also issued statements condemning the unilateral US attacks against Venezuela. The PFLP highlighted that continued US military escalation could ignite new global conflict zones and that the attacks constitute an attack on all nations that seek to chart their own independent paths.
Honduras
The LIBRE Party in Honduras, which is currently facing what they have termed a US-backed “electoral coup”, issued a statement through its coordinator Manuel Zelaya, strongly condemning the US aggression against Venezuela. “The imperialist can bomb cities, impose criminal sanctions, and unleash war, but they will never kill history, the dignity, nor the sovereign will of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Latin America and the Caribbean
ALBA Movements, a network of social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, called the attacks a “criminal act of war”, “in direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which threatens peace, sovereignty, and stability throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. This aggression has a clear objective: the plundering of Venezuela’s strategic resources, especially oil and gold, through a colonial policy of military intervention and regime change.” The network also called on people across the world to speak out against the attacks and mobilize in front of US embassies and consulates.
Read more: Trump threatens military operations in Colombia and Mexico
Protests planned in the United States
Opposition within the United States continues to grow against the unilateral attacks against Venezuela. A Quinnipiac poll released in mid-December showed that 63% of people in the United States oppose military action inside Venezuela.
Meanwhile, anti-war groups in the United States have already called for a day of action on January 3, to oppose the US military escalation.
The ANSWER Coalition wrote in a statement announcing the actions in over a dozen cities in the US, “We need to take to the streets and say no to another endless war! The people of this country do not want another war! A US war would cause death and destruction for the people of Venezuela. The war machine consumes an unimaginable amount of our tax dollars while working families struggle to make ends meet. In an all-out war with Venezuela, it will be working class young people who are sent to kill and die, not the children of executives at ExxonMobil and LockheedMartin. The people need to take to the streets and say no to Trump’s war on Venezuela!”
Read more: From Palestine to Venezuela: The US is behind the door
US Senator from Arizona Ruben Gallego wrote on X, “This war is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela.”
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In the early hours of Saturday, January 3, blackouts, aircraft noise, and heavy explosions were heard throughout Caracas and in several other regions of Venezuela. In a statement released around 3 a.m., the Venezuelan government confirmed that the US government launched military strikes in Caracas, La Guaira, and Aragua state. After several hours of uncertainty and following US announcements, the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores was confirmed.
The Venezuelan statement, besides confirming the US military aggression, also informed the public that Venezuela is prepared to repel any further attacks. However, no anti-aircraft artillery was seen during the US military strikes over Caracas.
In the communique, the government also announced that President Maduro signed a state of foreign commotion emergency decree. The government had previously stated it would implement this decree immediately should the US government act on its military threats. This measure will allow Venezuela to respond more efficiently to both internal and external aggression.
US imperialism and the struggle for oil
Since last August, US imperialism has been threatening military attacks against Venezuela under the excuse of a new “war on drugs.” However, recent statements show that the main reasons behind these threats—along with an unprecedented US military deployment of more than 18,000 troops off the coast of Venezuela—are regime change and control over Venezuelan oil.
From the headquarters of Orinoco Tribune in south downtown Caracas, no strikes were visible, including around the Miraflores Presidential Palace. However, explosions and unfamiliar aircraft noises were heard for about 45 minutes, ending around 2:50 a.m. The aircraft sounds were not similar to the ordinary helicopter or fighter jet sounds familiar to those in Venezuela.
Social media posts showed videos of explosions at the Fuerte Tiuna military complex in Caracas, in areas reported by mainstream media in recent months as secure presidential locations. This indicates an attempted decapitation strike against President Maduro. Strikes at the La Carlota military base in Caracas were also clearly covered in social media posts. Several areas of Caracas remain without electric power after several hours, though most of the city does not report electricity cuts.
The following is an unofficial translation of the Venezuelan government statement:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in the civilian and military localities of the city of Caracas, capital of the republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of states, and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and puts the lives of millions of people at serious risk.
The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, in an attempt to forcibly break the nation’s political independence. They will not succeed. After more than 200 years of independence, the people and their legitimate government remain steadfast in defending their sovereignty and their inalienable right to decide their own destiny. The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change,” in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail like all previous attempts.
Since 1811, Venezuela has confronted and defeated empires. When foreign powers bombarded our coasts in 1902, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent foot of the foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland.” Today, with the spirit of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise again to defend their independence in the face of imperial aggression.
People to the streets!
The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian National Armed Forces, in perfect popular-military-police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace. Simultaneously, Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy will file the corresponding complaints with the UN Security Council, the secretary-general of that organization, CELAC, and NAM, demanding the condemnation and accountability of the US government.
President Nicolás Maduro has ordered that all national defense plans be implemented at the appropriate time and under the appropriate circumstances, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Emergency, and the Organic Law on National Security.
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has signed and ordered the implementation of the decree declaring a state of external commotion throughout the national territory in order to protect the rights of the population, the full functioning of republican institutions, and to immediately move to armed struggle. The entire country must mobilize to defeat this imperialist aggression.
Similarly, he has ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation and the Comprehensive Defense Management Bodies in all states and municipalities of the country. In accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence.
As Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías pointed out, “in the face of any new difficulties, whatever their magnitude, the response of all patriots… is unity, struggle, battle and victory.”
— Caracas, January 3, 2026
Kidnapping of President Maduro and the line of succession
Around 5 a.m., the US ruler, Donald Trump, claimed on social media that President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been kidnapped. Initial impressions from analysts suggested this might be a disinformation maneuver intended to materialize the assassination of President Maduro. This appeared to be supported by a press conference held by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, where no reference to a kidnapping was made.
US Launches Criminal Airstrikes on Venezuela—Statement by the Venezuelan Government
However, around 5:30 a.m., Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, the second-highest official in the line of succession, appeared in a broadcast on public television. She demanded “proof of life” from the US regime for President Maduro and his wife, thereby confirming the kidnapping of the constitutional president of Venezuela.
Many analysts have asserted over the last several months of US aggression that a decapitation strike or the absence of President Maduro would represent a significant loss, but would not topple the Bolivarian Revolution or Chavismo. Under the current circumstances, Delcy Rodríguez is serving as the acting president of Venezuela.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/JB
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Early Saturday morning, military zones in the city of Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira were attacked by the United States, according to a statement.
“This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of states, and the prohibition of the use of force,” the statement indicated.
The statement noted that such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and seriously endangers the lives of millions of people.
It denounced that the objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the nation’s political independence. “They will not succeed.”
The Bolivarian Government called on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and condemn this imperialist attack.
It affirmed that the people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian National Armed Forces, in perfect popular-military-police unity, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace.
jdt/mem/jcd
The post Venezuela denounces and repudiates US military aggression first appeared on Prensa Latina.
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The National Association of Friendship between Italy and Cuba (Anaic) issued a statement declaring that “after months of lies and provocations, extrajudicial killings and acts of piracy, tonight Trumpist beasts bombed Venezuela.” “Stop this aggression immediately.
The United Nations and its Security Council must intervene immediately to prevent brutal and petty US imperialism from attacking and robbing a sovereign country and plunging the world into World War III,” the statement reads.
The National Association of Ibero-American States (ANAIC) called for “maximum mobilization to show our full solidarity with the Venezuelan people and their legitimate representative, President Nicolas Maduro Moro,” and concluded its call with the slogan “Hands off Bolivarian Venezuela!”
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated in a message posted on social media that “I am following the situation of our diplomatic mission in Caracas, with special attention to the Italian community.”
“Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is constantly informed,” Tajani assured, specifying that the Foreign Ministry’s crisis unit is operational, monitoring the course of events in that nation, where some 160,000 Italian citizens are currently located.
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UN human rights chief urged the Israeli regime to halt plans to impose mandatory death sentences exclusively on Palestinians, warning the proposal violates international law and entrenches discriminatory justice.
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Speaking to the multinational network Telesur, Rodriguez demanded proof of life from Washington for the president and the first lady, Cilia Flores.
The vice president asserted that Maduro had anticipated the possibility of a US attack, knowing what the current administration, headed by Donald Trump, is capable of.
The Venezuelan government denounced the attack on military and civilian sites in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
Trump confirmed a large-scale attack and claimed that President Maduro and Flores had been “captured and left the country.”
Condemnations of the US attack have poured in from around the world.
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In a special address, the Minister informed the country and the world about what he described as “the most criminal military aggression” by the United States government.
Padrino Lopez detailed that, during the early hours of this morning, invading US forces violated Venezuelan sovereign airspace.
The attacks, he explained, were concentrated in the town of Fuerte Tiuna, in Caracas, and in strategic points in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
In his speech, Padrino Lopez stated that enemy combat helicopters fired missiles and rockets that struck residential areas with civilian populations, and a preliminary tally of fatalities and injuries is already being compiled.
In response to these events, the Venezuelan military high command lodged the strongest protest with all international multilateral organizations.
The Minister of Defense directly accused the U.S. government (the administration of Donald Trump) of committing a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, jeopardizing the stability of the entire region.
“A free and independent Venezuela, and I reiterate that the homeland is a supreme value. They have attacked us, but they will not break us,” concluded Padrino Lopez.
jdt/jha/mv
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Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife have been captured by the US armed forces, US President Donald Trump claims.
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