Friday 2 January was a typical day in Venezuelan capital Caracas. The roads were unusually quiet and few people were out on the streets, the city still slowing down after the New Year’s celebrations.
Federico Melo, a resident of Prados del Este, a middle-class neighbourhood in the east of Caracas, decided to wait until Saturday to go out for some errands. Public transport would be more frequent and there was a better chance that shops would be open.
In another part of the city, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro spent part of his day meeting with Qiu Xiaoqi, the special envoy of Chinese president Xi Jinping for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Nobody realised that in the early hours of Saturday 3 January they would witness one of the most dangerous and traumatic episodes Venezuela has experienced in decades. The US bombed several strategic locations in Caracas, as well as in Aragua State, La Guaira State and Miranda State, all within the vicinity of the Venezuelan capital.
When Maduro was kidnapped by the US elite Delta Force, minutes after the bombing began, the Chinese delegation was likely still in Caracas, while Venezuelans tried to make sense of what was unfolding around them.
Noise like an earthquake
Sofía Vargas (not her real name), noticed that the power went out at around 1am on that day. She, her husband and her son were still awake at the time. She says the bombing began at approximately 1.30am, with thunderous sounds unlike anything she had ever heard before. At first, she thought it was an earthquake. The building where she lives, on the fourth floor, began to shake, along with everything inside her flat.
Living close to the military base Fuerte Tiuna, an area officially classified as a “strategic zone” and one that was heavily bombed by the US, meant Sofía was close enough to the main attack. What she heard that night still haunts her.
She said:
I thought all the windows in the flat would shatter. At first, we all ran downstairs and out of the building. We could hear aircraft, planes or helicopters, but we could not see anything. The noise felt as if it was right above us. My son had a panic attack. Eventually, we decided to go back to our flats and wait for the news.
Sofía also noticed that since the attack, the macaws, parrots, parakeets and doves that used to gather every morning in the building’s gardens have not returned.
It is now known that electricity was cut across much of Caracas after US forces struck a power station supplying five major areas of the city, including Sofía’s neighbourhood.
According to some of her neighbours, there were also incidents near the historic centre of Caracas, where buildings such as the Presidential Palace of Miraflores, the Vice Presidency, the Foreign Ministry and the Central Bank of Venezuela are located.
US attack propels a wave of patriotism across Venezuela
Melo told me that there is now a strong and widespread feeling of patriotism and solidarity with Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The most politically organised sectors, such as the Patriotic Pole, which supported Maduro in last year’s presidential elections, and the PSUV, Maduro’s party, have been the most vocal. However, he says the indignation over the US attack extends far beyond these groups:
To this you have to add the anger caused by Trump’s statements, which humiliated
Venezuela and treated it as if it were a US colony.
He also noted that Venezuelan neo fascist groups appear to be on the defensive, which he described as unusual:
After an attack like this, you might expect them to celebrate, as has happened in a few cities around the world. But in Venezuela that has not been the case, perhaps because of the humiliating way Trump rejected Maria Corina Machado’s supposed leadership. What we have seen instead are threats and hate messages on social media, which have generated rejection rather
than fear.
According to Melo, politicians linked to neo fascist groups have failed to gain support from the rest of the opposition:
Today, during the televised debate in the National Assembly, we saw a sector of the opposition attempting to establish a political pact with the government.
At the same time, parliamentarians linked to neo fascist groups continue to deny that Venezuela has a democratic system, despite having been elected to office by that same system they despise. On top of that, they are acting as if nothing has happened in the country.
The marches in favour of Maduro continue
Jouseline Rodriguez, who attended the march in Caracas on Sunday, the day after the US attack, echoed Melo’s assessment. She said that people marching in support of Maduro and Flores were deeply angry and indignant:
People are also feeling heartened by the strength shown by our President Nicolás Maduro. He is a man with spiritual force. We can imagine the things they are doing to him now to humiliate him, but you can see that he remains strong and resolute.
Rodriguez told me that demonstrators were demanding the release of Maduro and Flores, and their return to Venezuela, emphasising that he was elected by the majority of Venezuelans as their president:
We do not deny the existence of an opposition. But the majority of the Venezuelan people are Chavistas, and we showed wisdom and restraint by not going out to burn cars or destroy the streets to express our frustration. This respect for life and for Venezuelan institutions is something the international community should recognise.
She also pointed out that even opposition supporters, whom she estimates make up around 15 percent of the population, did not take to the streets to cause unrest, as they did in the days following the 2024 presidential elections:
The area next to the Presidential Palace of Miraflores was not bombed or attacked, but some drones exploded in the air nearby. We still do not know whether they were repelled. I do not think they were repelled. I think they were detonated in the air by those controlling them. The objective of the explosions was to scare people.
One drone fell near the entrance to the working class neighbourhood 23 de Enero, breaking part of a building. There were no fatalities, but the incident was deeply shocking. The Cuartel de la Montaña, where the body of former president Hugo Chávez lies, was not damaged.
Monday’s march went from Bellas Artes, passing through Avenida Universidad and ending at the National Assembly. Sunday’s march went from Plaza La Candelaria along Urdaneta Avenue to the Presidential Palace of Miraflores. In both marches, entire avenues were packed with people.
Rodriguez also noted that on Monday morning the main road leading to the National Assembly was cordoned off, as it formed part of the march route. She clarified that while access to the Presidential Palace of Miraflores is restricted to vehicles, pedestrians can still pass through, and much of central Caracas remains walkable:
There are security forces throughout the area and across Caracas, but they are not stopping people. They are simply carrying out routine security to prevent access to normally restricted zones.
Rodriguez added that on Tuesday there will be a march of women in Caracas in solidarity with Maduro and Flores, with members of grass roots movements and communes, mostly from Caracas, expected to attend. As with previous marches, details have spread largely by word of mouth.
Venezuelans are prepared in case of further attacks
Cira Pascual, a community educator at Pluriversidad, the community based training centre of the El Panal commune in Caracas, and a member of the International Network for Communal Democracy, said that the Venezuelan people’s response to the kidnapping of Maduro has been clear and profoundly political, but also marked by a commitment to calm and conscious struggle:
From the very beginning, the imperialist attack was interpreted for what it is: a direct aggression against national sovereignty and against a people who have decided not to kneel.
During these days, there have been constant mobilisations. On the day of the vile attack, people spontaneously gathered at Miraflores Palace.
Pascual told us that in recent days, in a way she described as unprecedented and characteristic of the Bolivarian Revolution, organised popular power has taken on the task of territorial defence alongside the Bolivarian National Armed Forces:
The people’s militias are protecting their communes, not through violence, but through a deep awareness that sovereignty is defended collectively.
Pascual, who is also a co author of the book series Communal Resistance Against the Imperialist Blockade, confirmed she has not seen a single person in the streets, on public transport or in everyday conversations celebrating the kidnapping of Maduro and Flores:
Even broad sectors of the opposition have expressed their rejection of this imperialist attack, aware that it is a threat that transcends political differences and directly targets the right of peoples to decide their own destiny.
Melo added that the majority of people are out on the streets showing solidarity. The communal movement, made up of organised communities alongside members of political parties aligned with the Venezuelan government, forms the vanguard of the Bolivarian Revolution and is ready to defend the country against any aggression.
Pascual stated the attack against Venezuela is not an isolated incident but part of a broader offensive against the peoples of Latin America, particularly those who challenge an imperialist order whose hegemony is under strain:
The popular response is not only Venezuelan. It is profoundly Latin Americanist. Here, Maduro is defended, yes, but so is the very possibility of a sovereign, just and free Greater Homeland.
Finally, Rodriguez warned that if the US attacks again, the Venezuelan army will not be caught off guard. However, she said an attack on the civilian population would result in catastrophic bloodshed:
If US forces try to come in and stay, we are more than ready to face them. They will not leave Venezuela alive. Not a single drop of oil will go to the US. They will face one, two or even three Vietnams. There will be no turning back.
Featured image via the Canary
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