CARACAS, Jan 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela rejects “military aggression” by the United States, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said in a statement early on Saturday (Jan 3).
Attacks took place in the capital of Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, the statement said, prompting Maduro to declare a national emergency and call on social and political forces to “activate mobilisation plans”.
“The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to break the nation’s political independence by force. They will not succeed,” the statement added.
At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2am local time on Saturday in Caracas.
It was not immediately clear what was behind the explosions. Venezuela’s government, the Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, a US official said early on Saturday that the US is carrying out strikes inside Venezuela. The official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not provide details.
Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.
People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets.
“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”
Venezuelan state television did not interrupt its programming and aired a report on Venezuelan music and art.
The blasts come as the US military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking.
Maduro also said in a pre-taped interview aired on Thursday that the US wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the month-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.
Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US.
The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes on boats in September.
US President Donald Trump, for months, had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land.
The US has also seized 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.
The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September.
As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US and asserted that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the US. — NNN-AGENCIES