The White House has taken the extraordinary step of publicising a dramatic, first-hand narrative from the operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The account, presented as an interview with a Venezuelan security guard present during the assault, paints a picture of a swift and devastating raid where Venezuelan forces were completely overwhelmed.
A Guard's Harrowing Testimony of the Assault
On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged the public to "Stop what you are doing and read this," while sharing the gripping narrative online. The guard described a sudden technological collapse that left his unit blind and vulnerable. All radar systems reportedly "shut down without any explanation" just before the sky filled with swarms of drones.
"We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down," the guard recounted. "The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react." He claimed the initial drone swarm was followed by only a handful of helicopters, deploying an estimated twenty elite operatives.
The confrontation, according to the guard, was brutally one-sided. He stated that the Venezuelan forces were "technologically unmatched" and the attackers were unlike any foe they had faced. When asked to describe the event, his reply was stark: "It was a massacre."
Precision, Speed, and Unidentified Weapons
The guard detailed the ferocity of the attack, claiming the US operatives fired with "precision and speed," with each seemingly firing an astonishing 300 rounds per minute. Despite being hundreds strong, the Venezuelan forces "had no chance." He also described a terrifying, unidentified weapon that caused severe physical trauma.
"It was like a very intense sound wave," he said. "Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move." The guard emphasised the lopsided outcome, noting the attackers suffered no casualties while killing hundreds on his side.
He concluded with a dire warning to other nations, saying, "I’m sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States. They have no idea what they’re capable of."
The Covert Operation Behind the Capture
This account emerges as US officials defend the legality and precision of the mission. The operation was the culmination of months of covert intelligence work by the CIA, involving drone surveillance and human sources close to Maduro. This intelligence allowed US planners to map the Venezuelan leader's routine in minute detail.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, had earlier revealed that the US knew "where Maduro moved, what he ate and even what pets he kept." Elite Delta Force commandos trained on a full-scale replica of Maduro's compound before executing the raid.
Reports indicate US forces disabled air defences, cut power in parts of Caracas, and cleared a path for helicopters. Maduro was captured within minutes, swiftly transferred to a US warship, and flown to the United States to face charges. President Donald Trump has hailed the operation as a decisive strike against drug trafficking and authoritarianism, though critics globally have questioned its legality and potential to destabilise the region.
