VENEZULANS spoke of their terror yesterday as US commandos detonated “earthquake” blasts before kidnapping their president in the shock attack.
Crack US Army Delta Force and FBI agents blazed their way past Nicolas Maduro’s feared Avispas Negras bodyguards to grab him in the heart of Caracas.
And locals living close to the epicentre told for the first time how the historic lightning strike shook their homes “like an earthquake.”
Stunned residents of the El Valle suburb, just half a mile from the Fuerte Tiuna mansion where Maduro was snatched, told how earsplitting blasts rattled the windows of their homes at 2am.
Communications Student María Echeverría, 27, told The Sun: “I thought it was thunder, then an earthquake – then I realised they were bombs.
“I yelled to my mom, ‘They are bombing us!’ From my window, I could see black smoke coming from a nearby mountain.
DARING RAID
How US forces captured Maduro after raiding safe house in ‘matter of seconds’
DON’S SUCCESS
Trump has Maduro where he wants – what happens next is crucial, expert says
“Suddenly the sky was filled with helicopters and planes. There was an explosion so close that I just screamed. I was panicking, crying, thinking they were going to kill us all.
“It was horrible – there was nothing on social media. People on WhatsApp were asking what the hell was happening.
“Some posted videos from their areas showing the fires and the bombings. I was terrified.
“We got dressed and packed a suitcase and got ready to run.”
Maria said locals were now gripped by uncertainty with no idea what their future holds.
She added: “I didn’t think Trump was going to attack, much less like this. I thought it was all a bluff, that it would just remain a threat.
“It scares me but Venezuela doesn’t have much left to lose, but nothing is free and I also think Maduro was just the puppet – I don’t know what’s coming for us.”
Asdrúbal Blanco, a 39-year-old merchant, who lives at El Paraíso near a National Guard post, said: “I heard a lot of noise – cars and motorcycles leaving, people screaming – then heavy detonations that shook the windows of my apartment and the sound of planes.
“The power went out immediately.
“Fear took hold of us. I was very scared. I saw my family, my children screaming in fear. I had to lock them in the apartment bathroom.
“I thought we were all going to die and hours passed before the power came back.
“It is a matter of Venezuela being liberated, because if we continue with the same dictatorship, Venezuela is never going to change.
“And as long as these people remain in power, we will not have a free country.”
Teacher María Bernal, 34, who lives near Miraflores Palace, said: “It was shocking – I was shaking.
“When I stood up to look out of my window, I saw an impact – an explosion right in front of the mountain.
“I live in Capuchinos and I don’t know exactly what is across from there but I think it’s Fuerte Tiuna (from where Maduro was taken)
“Immediately there was another explosion further along the mountain and you could hear the planes overflying.
“Things in Capuchinos in San Juan parish are calm now and people are lining up at the food stalls and all the businesses are closed or half open.
Yonny Díaz, a 38-year-old truck driver from Caracas’s El Silencio suburb, said: “Everyone was in bed when there was a thunderous roar and explosions.
“We got up and went to the kitchen and saw explosions at the top of mountain Cota 905.
“There was a second explosion … a third explosion – I stood at the window and saw it, I felt great fear. We were all worried.
“We also saw lights in the sky and thought they were drones because they made noises like wasps passing over the mountain.
“It’s all very worrying and we can only pray the situation improves.”
How US forces captured Maduro after raiding safe house in ‘matter of seconds’
EXCLUSIVE by Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter & Martin Arostegui
COMMANDOS from US special forces obliterated air defence systems to raid Nicolás Maduro’s fortified safe house in a stunning military operation inside Venezuela.
Operation Absolute Resolve unfolded under the cover of darkness when some 150 military aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance planes, took off from 20 military bases and Navy ships.
In a series of fast-moving events, Caracas was rocked by explosions, accompanied by the sound of attack helicopters.
The strikes, which targeted a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, continued for nearly an hour.
And within moments, dictator Maduro – who has been the country’s leader for the past 12 years – was bundled into a military chopper along with his wife and sent back to the US.
General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said fighter jets including F-22 Raptors, F-35 stealth fighters, and Navy F-18 Hornets were deployed in Venezuela to wipe out the country’s air defences.
Read the full story here…
Zenaida Flores, a 57-year-old housewife, told The Sun: “We looked toward the mountain and saw smoke and fire.
“My daughter screamed, “They are shooting at us!”
“We were terrified. We heard planes flying over our balcony, but we couldn’t see them. We only heard the noise.
“My daughter panicked and I had to tell her to calm down. Then we started checking social media and confirmed we were being bombed.
“I started to pray and that calmed me down a bit. I had heard that Trump was going to intervene in the country but we had no clue this would happen.
“Trump spoke and said he was going to run Venezuela – but how?”
Zenaida added: “There really is a lot of uncertainty. What I’m thinking is, well, not to leave the house, to stay alert and check the news.”
Venezuelans had for months been bracing for attacks on their territory, following repeated threats by Trump to escalate his campaign against Maduro’s administration.
Trump has consistently framed Venezuela under Maduro as an illegitimate regime, accusing it of operating as a narco-state aligned with US adversaries.
The US president had long threatened that he could order military strikes on targets in Venezuelan territory after months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs from the South American country.
The White House said Washington was in armed conflict with drug cartels to halt the flow of narcotics into the America, while US officials alleged that Maduro supported the international drug trade.
‘Operation Absolute Resolve’
General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that interagency work on the attack “began months ago and was built on decades of experience of integrating complex air, ground, space, and maritime operations”.
Months of air surveillance by satellites and Reaper drones flying at high altitudes were also required to map out Venezuela’s air defences and installations.
The CIA had a small team on the ground starting in August who were able to provide insight into Maduro’s pattern of life that made grabbing him seamless, according to one source familiar with the matter.
Two other sources said the intelligence agency also had an asset close to Maduro who would monitor his movements and was poised to pinpoint his exact location as the operation unfolded.
On Saturday evening, Maduro was pictured flanked by FBI agents as he arrived on US soil with his wife.
Footage showed a US federal airplane carrying the Venezuelan dictator and his wife Cilia Flores arriving at the Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York.
Maduro was seen being led in custody by dozens of FBI agents before his scheduled court appearance at Manhattan federal court.
He has been hit with narco-terrorism and weapons-related charges – and will now face a trial in New York.