The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has offered the first details of the Operation Absolute Resolutionname given to the military deployment in Venezuela that has culminated with him and his wife, Celia Flores. The exact locations and number of soldiers involved are still unknown, but the authorities have detailed three key moments of the operation.
22.00 in New York (23.00 in Caracas)
Around ten at night in New York (eleven in Caracas), Trump ordered the operation to begin. As detailed by Dan Caine, General of the General Staff of the United States, 150 military aircraft left 20 bases around the world. Among them were F22, F35 and F18 fighters, as well as B1 bombers and remotely piloted drones. Its objective was to weaken the Venezuelan defense and provide support and protection to the helicopters that would approach Caracas. These teams will be in charge of approaching the place where Maduro was in Caracas.
The spokesmen have not detailed the attacks carried out by their air forces. But bombings were recorded on key infrastructure on the Venezuelan coast, specifically in Puerto de La Guaira and the Higuerote airfield.
1.01 in New York (2.01 in Caracas)
Shortly before two in the morning local time, the first explosions and the noise of aircraft flying over the capital were heard over Caracas. A group of United States Army helicopters arrived at 2:01 at the building where Maduro was located, in the city of Caracas, although no details were given about where the president was exactly. The La Carlota military air base and the Fuerte Tiuna military base were attacked to limit counterattacks.
A dozen helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, and in Caracas. Some of the helicopters exchanged fire with the Venezuelan defense and one was damaged, but was able to return to base without major problems; Others dedicated themselves to approaching the place where Maduro was and capturing him, along with his wife.
For months, the spokesperson explained, several United States intelligence services have been working to follow Maduro’s movements and prepare the ground for the operation. Although the location of the Venezuelan leader was facilitated by CIA agents infiltrated in the Venezuelan Government and thanks to the help of spy drones, according to intelligence sources they have confirmed several. Agencies such as the NSA (National Security Agency) and the NGA (Geostrategic Intelligence Agency) participated in the operation.
3.29 in New York (4.29 in Caracas)
Shortly before 4:30 a.m. in Caracas, the helicopters were already “flying over the sea, with the accused on board,” Don Caine detailed. Maduro and Celia Flores were taken to the US warship Iwo Jima. At 11:23 in the morning (New York local time) Trump published on his Truth social network a photograph of Nicolás Maduro, handcuffed and blindfolded, supposedly aboard this ship.
Previous attacks and military deployment against drug trafficking
Since September, the Trump administration has had a campaign against the “drug boats” that operate in the Caribbean and the Western Pacific. Although it does not have authorization from the United States Congress—a necessary requirement in the event of war—American planes have carried out 18 attacks against thirty vessels belonging to alleged traffickers. At least eight came from Venezuela, according to data from ACLED, which monitors armed conflicts around the world.
Already at the beginning of this year, Trump had deployed an imposing fleet in Central American waters: at least 15,000 soldiers, an aircraft carrier and several aerial reconnaissance means and bombers. In the following graph we show the main media outlets that the United States had in the area in the month of November.
The key to oil
Venezuela is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, but it obtains very little energy from crude oil. In the classification of the countries that benefit most from this resource, it occupies position twenty. The United States, on the other hand, is by far the one that produces the most energy from oil.
American Trump in the reserves of the Latin country since his first statements on Fox News after the attack. The United States will have a “strong participation” in the country’s oil industry, he said: “We have the largest oil companies in the world, the largest, and we are going to be very involved in it.”
