Operation Absolute Determination made it possible to exfiltrate Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela without the loss of a single American life.image: reuters/getty/watson
To carry out the riskiest military operation since the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, the United States prepared for weeks with surgical precision. A look behind the scenes of a secret and dangerous mission that ended with the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro – without any American casualties.
Jan 6, 2026, 8:25 p.mJan 6, 2026, 8:25 p.m
As a fleet of 150 military aircraft descended on Caracas at dawn on January 3, tensions between the United States and Venezuela reached their peak. Objective of the mission? The arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The code name: Operation Absolute Resolve.
It all started in August when a team of CIA agents infiltrated Venezuela. Your goal? To collect as comprehensive information as possible about President Nicolás Maduro – about his environment, his habits, his movements. A highly complex task. The US embassy is closed and diplomatic cover is impossible. There is only one thing left: to act inconspicuously, with the utmost discretion and the strictest secrecy.
But with the support of a source close to the Venezuelan president and with the help of a fleet of drones, Nicolás Maduro will soon no longer have any secrets from the American special forces. What he does, where he sleeps, where he lives, what he wears, what he eats and what his pets are called – all of these details are proving crucial to the success of the most dangerous US operation since the storming of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan in 2011.
The weeks pass. While US President Donald Trump is gradually increasing the pressure on the Venezuelan government – with verbal threats, attacks on Venezuelan territory or on ships suspected of transporting drugs – the mission is being prepared in the strictest secrecy.
A secret of such magnitude that even the US Congress only knows part of the details. The major American media that were informed according to the AP news agency – including the New York Times and the Washington Post – also decided not to publish anything before the operation began. For safety reasons. Even the smallest leak could jeopardize the entire mission and put the lives of dozens of US soldiers at risk. The element of surprise is crucial.
To guarantee success, every little detail counts. In advance, the elite commandos of Delta Force are preparing for deployment somewhere in the state of Kentucky – in a faithful replica of Nicolás Maduro’s private palace. In ever closer succession, they train to force open steel doors.
«We analyze, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we take stock – and we rehearse again and again. Not to do it the first time, but to make sure you don’t make a mistake.”
General Caine, the US commander in charge, at a press conference
The emergency services will be ready for action at the beginning of December.
On December 25th, Donald Trump gave the order to start the mission. As a result, more and more planes, armed drones and helicopters – short-term reinforcements – are secretly deployed in the region around Caracas. The only open question is no longer whether the operation will take place, but When.
To successfully carry out the capture of the Venezuelan president, it is crucial that all conditions are met and that the target is actually in the complex that the commandos have been trained to attack. With Trump’s approval, the decision on the exact timing rests with those responsible at the Pentagon. The holiday season is considered ideal: many Venezuelan politicians and military officers are on vacation. It is ideal to use it between Christmas and New Year.
But that doesn’t take the weather into account. Miserable conditions delay the start of the operation by several days. The first machines that are already heading towards the operational area receive the order to turn back several times.
Until the weather finally improves – on Friday, January 2nd. The deployment of the first air assets begins in the late afternoon. Six hours later everything is ready. At 10:46 p.m. sharp, Donald Trump gives the final approval after an evening on the terrace of his Mar-a-Lago estate in the mild Florida winter air.
“Good luck and much success.”
Donald Trump to the military commanders, in a message sent to the operational US armed forces – according to the “Wall Street Journal”
Operation “Absolute Determination” is launched.
The operation
Under the watchful eyes of Donald Trump and General Caine, who have taken up residence in an improvised security center at Mar-a-Lago, one of Trump’s biggest gambles of both terms in office is being decided. Information is arriving in real time from 150 fighter jets that have taken off from 20 different bases throughout the western hemisphere and are heading towards the Venezuelan capital.
First phase: a cyber attack that knocks out electricity in large parts of Caracas. The city sinks into complete darkness. A “black and deadly night,” as the president would later describe it.
It was shortly after 1:30 a.m. local time when residents began to hear the first planes above their bedrooms. This is followed by explosions that shake the window panes.
“The pressure wave caused the car to lift off the ground. I thought I was going to die.”
At least forty people – military personnel and civilians – died in the attack. That’s what she reports “New York Times”. As families seek shelter under furniture and residents run into the streets to film the rising clouds of smoke, American special forces arrive at the presidential complex: a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of the Venezuelan capital.
At 02:01 a.m., the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite US Army unit specializing in high-risk missions – known as the “Night Fighters” – entered the building to locate Nicolás Maduro using explosives. However, the advance was not without resistance: several US helicopters came under fire on the approach. One of them was hit and around half a dozen soldiers were injured, those responsible reported to the New York Times.
Around 2,100 kilometers away, Donald Trump and his advisors are monitoring the access process live in a room at Mar-a-Lago.Image: Anadolu
After blowing through the gate of Venezuela’s most heavily secured military base, the “night hunters” needed less than three minutes to cross the building and reach the bedroom where Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were holed up. The couple then tries to escape into another room, which is protected by a particularly solid steel door. But they will never reach him.
At 03:29 a.m. – five minutes after the entry into the presidential palace and five hours after the start of the special operation – the Delta special forces reported to Donald Trump the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. Tied up, blindfolded and dressed in a gray Nike tracksuit, he is taken aboard a US warship. The destination is New York, where he is to stand trial on charges of narco-terrorism.
As the Venezuelan president’s nearly thirteen-year rule ends, the sun rises over Caracas.