Smoke rises from La Carlota Airport.Image: keystone
There are said to have been several explosions in Caracas, media reports. Low-flying aircraft were also spotted.
01/03/2026, 08:0101/03/2026, 08:54
Multiple explosions rocked Venezuela’s capital on Saturday morning, CNN reported. Parts of the city are without electricity. Low-flying aircraft were also reported.
Explosions and clouds of smoke could be seen in images published by television station NTN24. Several of them are said to have occurred in the La Carlota area, where there is a Venezuelan Air Force base.
A video from the VPItv channel showed several helicopters flying over the city at night. What caused the explosions initially remained unclear. The Venezuelan government initially did not comment on the incidents.
A CNN journalist reported that he could hear the sound of planes following the explosions.
Low-flying aircraft were reported before the explosions.Image: keystone
Shortly after the explosions, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared that Caracas would be bombed. «At this moment Caracas is being bombed. Alert to everyone: Venezuela has been attacked. They’re bombarding it with rockets.” The Organization of American States and the United Nations should meet immediately, he said.
This is the moment we bombed Caracas. Alerta atodo el mundo han atacado a Venezuela
Bombardean with missiles.
Debe reunirse the OEA and the ONU de immediately.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) January 3, 2026
Jennifer Jacobs, CBS White House reporter, reported on X that US President Trump is said to have attacked the attacks in Venezuela. US officials said this.
BREAKING via @CBSNews: President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela including military facilities, US officials said, as the administration early Saturday ratcheted up its campaign against the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. via @JimLaPorta and me
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 3, 2026
The conflict between the USA and Venezuela had recently escalated further. The US armed forces have massed numerous warships, fighter jets and soldiers off the coast of Venezuela. The military recently sank a number of alleged drug boats, and the coast guard seized oil tankers subject to sanctions. US President Donald Trump also confirmed an attack on a port area in the South American country.
Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro accuses the White House of wanting to force a change of power in Caracas. In October, Trump publicly confirmed that he had approved covert operations by the CIA in Venezuela. The US President also declared that Maduro’s days at the head of state were numbered.
(sda/dpa/vro)
Update follows…