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Venezuela rejects ‘aggression by US’, national emergency declared after Caracas blasts
Several explosions shook Venezuela’s capital early on Saturday, with thick black smoke and aircraft visible over parts of the city.
Venezuela’s government said it had rejected what it described as “military aggression by the United States” and announced a national emergency shortly after explosions rocked the capital, Caracas, in the early hours of Saturday. The Pentagon and the White House have not yet responded to the strikes.
“The goal of the US attack is to take possession of Venezuelan oil and minerals,” the government said, calling for the ‘mobilisation’ of the population after the strikes.
Read live updates related to Venezuela-US tensions here.
“People to the streets!” the statement said, as per news agency AP. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”
The statement added that President Nicolas Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” The government said the attacks were reported in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
While there has been no official confirmation from Washington, CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs, citing US officials, said Donald Trump had ordered strikes on locations inside Venezuela, including military sites.
Explosions in Caracas
Several explosions shook Venezuela’s capital early on Saturday, with thick black smoke and aircraft visible over parts of the city.
Notably, Donald Trump had repeatedly spoken about possible land operations in Venezuela. The United States has also made a major military buildup in the region, deploying an aircraft carrier, warships and advanced fighter jets to the Caribbean.
Trump has accused the South American nation of flooding large quantities of drugs into the US, and his administration has for several months been carrying out air strikes on boats coming from South America that it claims were involved in drug trafficking
Maduro has strongly rejected any links to criminal activity and has said the United States is trying to remove him from power to gain access to Venezuela’s large oil reserves and rare earth mineral resources.
With inputs from agencies
