A Venezuelan neighbour was pictured walking through his devastated apartment in the aftermath of a US raid that reportedly killed at least 40 civilians and military personnel.
Striking images show rubble and debris scattered around the floor of the home in Catia La Mar – with the building’s outer walls completely taken out.
Metal railings lie amongst ashes near the entrance and the inside of the flat has been wrecked as plaster hangs off the ceiling.
Jesus Linares, 48, and his work partner Reggie Carrera could be seen inspecting the damaged apartment.
It comes after the US launched large-scale strikes on Venezuela early on Saturday morning in a ploy to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Explosions were seen ripping across Caracas during the daring raid, with Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab insisting ‘innocents’ had been ‘mortally wounded’ by the US operation.
Maduro and Flores arrived in New York yesterday afternoon, having been apprehended by a unit of elite Delta Force soldiers.
Trump had earlier announced the military mission, confirming that a ‘large-scale strike’ was carried out in Venezuela. He added the operation was done in conjunction with US Law enforcement.
Yesterday on Fox News the President said he had watched the operation with federal officials in a room at Mar-a-Lago.
Striking images show rubble and debris scattered around the floor of the home in Catia La Mar – with the building’s outer walls completely taken out
Jesus Linares, 48, and his work partner Reggie Carrera could be seen inspecting the damaged apartment
Maduro, pictured with his wife Flores in 2019, was serving his third presidential term when the pair was captured by US forces
‘If you would’ve seen the speed, the violence… it was an amazing thing,’ he said.
Sources said Maduro and Flores were taken from their home by US troops in the middle of the night and were sleeping when the raid began.
President Trump addressed who should lead Venezuela after President Nicholas Maduro and his wife touched down in the US following their military capture.
Maduro and Flores are facing criminal drug trafficking charges and will be federally tried in New York.
The Supreme Court this afternoon confirmed socialist Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as Maduro’s successor just hours after his detention.
Trump said he preferred Rodriguez, 56, in power rather than the country’s opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, adding that Maduro’s VP was prepared to work with the US.
But the Maduro loyalist, who has helped him maintain his regime for over a decade, vented her fury at Trump’s capture of the dictator, whom she called her nation’s rightful leader.
Rodriguez, who also serves as minister for finance and oil, hit out at Maduro’s arrest as ‘an atrocity that violates international law’ and called for his ‘immediate release.’
the US launched large-scale strikes on Venezuela early on Saturday morning in a ploy to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores
Metal railings lie amongst ashes near the entrance and the inside of the flat has been wrecked as plaster hangs off the ceiling
An explosion rocks Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning during a US military operation which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
A bus with its windows blown out is seen in Caracas in the early hours of Saturday. Venezuela’s attorney general said ‘innocent people’ had been ‘mortally wounded’ by the strikes but did not offer further details or the number of people injured or killed
A military vehicle destroyed by Saturday’s strikes in Venezuela is seen burned-out as dawn breaks in Caracas on Saturday morning
‘We call on the peoples of the great homeland to remain united, because what was done to Venezuela can be done to anyone,’ she asserted during a National Defense Council session after the US military operation.
‘That brutal use of force to bend the will of the people can be carried out against any country.’
She also insinuated she was not as on board with helping the US essentially run Venezuela as Trump had suggested.
Trump offered little further detail on the logistics of running Venezuela, which has a population of 30 million, but suggested the country’s vast oil reserves would be used to fund its revival.