Loud Explosions In Venezuela After Trump Warns Of Ground Strikes

The explosions came as US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela.

Caracas:

Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard in Caracas around 2:00 am (0600 GMT) Saturday, an AFP reporter reported.

The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a naval task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela.

Sounds of explosions were still being heard around 2:15 am, although their exact location was unknown.

Trump on Monday said the United States struck and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.

Loud Explosions In Venezuela After Trump Warns Of Ground Strikes.
Agence France-Presse

President Nicolás Maduro has neither confirmed nor denied Monday’s strike, but said Thursday he was open to cooperation with Washington after weeks of US military pressure.

The Trump administration has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and says it is cracking down on smuggling, but the leftist leader denies any involvement in the narcotics trade, saying Washington is seeking to overthrow him because Venezuela has the largest known reserves of oil on Earth.

Washington has ramped up pressure on Caracas by informally closing Venezuelan airspace, imposing more sanctions and ordering the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.

footage from a vantage point over the city, showing multiple explosions across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

For weeks Trump has threatened grounds strikes on drug cartels in the region, saying they would start “soon,” with Monday being the first apparent example.

US forces have also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, targeting what Washington says are drug traffickers.

The administration has provided no evidence that the targeted boats were involved in drug smuggling, however, prompting debate about the legality of these operations.

The lethal maritime campaign has killed at least 107 people in at least 30 strikes, according to information released by the US military.

Explosions, loud noises and low-flying aircraft have been heard in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, amid reports that Donald Trump had ordered strikes against the South American nation.

In the early hours of Saturday the president of neighboring Colombia, Gustavo Petro, claimed on social media that Venezuela was coming under attack. “Right now they are bombing Caracas… bombing it with missiles,” Petro wrote on

Soon after CBS News reported that Trump had ordered the attacks – including on military facilities. The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.

At least seven explosions were heard about 2am local time and people in various neighborhoods hurried to the street, the Associated Press reported.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrific. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke pouring from two key military installations in Caracas: the La Carlota military airfield at the heart of the city and the Fuerte Tiuna military base where Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, has long been thought to live. Another important airport to the east of Caracas, Higuerote, also appeared to come under attack.

Venezuela’s government did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The explosions came after a five-month US pressure campaign against Maduro, which many analysts believe is designed to topple the Venezuelan leader. Since August, Donald Trump has ordered a massive military buildup off Venezuela’s northern coast and conducted a series of deadly airstrikes on supposed “narco boats”.

Trump has repeatedly promised land operations in Venezuela, amid efforts to pressure Maduro to leave office, including expanded sanctions, a ramped-up US military presence in the region and more than two dozen strikes on vessels allegedly involved in smuggling drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

The US has also confiscated sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

Caracas A CNN team witness several explosions early Saturday in Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity.

The first blast was recorded at approximately 1.50 am local time (0.50aET).

“One was so strong, my window was shaking after it,” said CNNE correspondent Osmary Hernandez.

Several areas of the city were without power and CNN reporters in the Venezuelan capital could hear sound of aircraft after the explosions.

The cause of the explosions was unclear.

One video acquired and verified by CNN showed two plumes of smoke rising into the night sky amid city lights. An orange glow can be seen at the base of one of the plumes. Then a flash in another location is briefly seen, followed by a dull booming sound.

Venezuelan news outlets Efecto Cocuyo and Tal Cual Digital reported explosions were also heard in La Guaira state north of Caracas and on the country’s coast, and at Higuerote a city on the coast in Miranda state.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that the US is preparing to take new action against alleged drug smuggling networks in Venezuela and that strikes on land

In October, Trump said that he authorized the CIA to operate inside Venezuela to clamp down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs from the South American country.

CNN has reach out to the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon for comment.

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