Yesterday’s evening, January 5th. Just days after that wild US operation snatched up Nicolás Maduro and flew him off to New York for court, the Venezuelan capital lit up with intense gunfire around the Miraflores Presidential Palace.This is right near the Miraflores Presidential Palace, and everyone’s already super on edge after that insane weekend when US forces swooped in, captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and flew them straight to New York for those big drug charges.
Videos all over social media show the night sky lighting up with anti-aircraft fire – bright streaks and booms that went on for about 45 minutes in some areas. Some neighborhoods even lost power, and residents were peeking out windows, hearts racing, spotting red lights up there and wondering if it was another attack. One person living just blocks away told reporters they heard the shots but it wasn’t as intense as the chaos over the weekend.
The Venezuelan government was quick to calm things down – their Ministry of Communication said unauthorized drones were flying over central Caracas, so security forces fired warning shots to chase them off. They insisted no real clash happened, zero damage or injuries, and the country’s totally peaceful now. A source told AFP it was unidentified drones getting too close to the palace, forces reacted, and boom, situation handled.
But come on, with Maduro gone – his VP Delcy Rodríguez stepped in as interim president amid all this drama – paranoia is through the roof. CNN reported it might’ve been a big oops between different security teams, like the pro-regime paramilitary colectivos and regular troops getting confused and thinking friendly drones were a threat. Streets are full of checkpoints, armed guys everywhere, people avoiding going out at night.
The White House jumped in fast too, saying they’re watching the reports closely but “the US is not involved.” Totally makes sense they’d deny it right away after the massive fallout from grabbing Maduro.
This whole scare just shows how shaky things are in Venezuela right now. After the US raid that shocked the world, there’s emergency measures, crackdowns, folks stocking up on food and basics. No one knows if this is a one-off panic or sign of more trouble ahead. Fingers crossed it settles down for the people living through this – it’s gotta be exhausting.
Stay tuned, things are moving fast.
Sources:
BNO News (real-time reports, videos, government statement on drones)
CNN (verified footage, resident accounts, misunderstanding between security groups, White House denial)
Times of India and News18 (details on anti-aircraft fire, duration)
AFP (government source on unidentified drones)
Daily Mail and Reuters (social media clips, post-capture context)
