Overview
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt urged followers on X to read an interview with a Venezuelan guard who described radar outages, swarms of drones, and a small U.S. assault team.
- The guard alleged that roughly twenty U.S. troops killed large numbers of defenders and deployed a powerful sound-like effect that caused nosebleeds, vomiting blood, and collapse.
- U.S. officials have not confirmed the account, and casualty figures remain disputed, with Venezuela’s Interior Ministry citing about 100 dead and other estimates reporting higher numbers.
- A retired U.S. special-operations officer told media he had heard 100 to 150 Venezuelan forces were killed, including Cuban personnel, a claim that also lacks independent verification.
- Maduro and Cilia Flores were captured on January 3 after months of CIA-supported planning that included disabling air defenses and a helicopter extraction, and they later pleaded not guilty in New York with a March 17 court date set.