Overview
- U.S. forces conducted large overnight strikes in Caracas, with Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores reported captured and taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima en route to U.S. territory.
- Jewish communal life paused as synagogues were locked, no Shabbat minyanim were held, and most residents stayed home except to buy basic supplies, prompting fears of food and fuel shortages.
- Acting president Delcy Rodríguez characterized the intervention as “without a doubt, Zionist in character,” reinforcing a long‑running anti‑Israel narrative from the government.
- Venezuela’s Jewish population has shrunk to an estimated 3,000–5,000 from about 25,000 in the early 1990s, yet institutions including the Hebraica JCC, Jewish schools, and Chabad remain in place.
- Community leaders and émigrés voice cautious hope for a democratic opening and possible returns, tempered by uncertainty over who will ultimately lead the government.