Caracas, Venezuela, 04 January (H.S.): Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were abruptly roused from sleep and dragged from their bedroom inside Caracas' ultra-secure Fuerte Tiuna military compound during a blistering U.S. raid on January 3, 2026, executed by Army Delta Force operators with FBI support in under 30 minutes, according to sources cited by CNN and corroborated across outlets.

President Donald Trump hailed the feat on Fox News, describing Maduro's residence as an impregnable fortress from which extraction proved miraculous, with no American fatalities despite minor wounds to troops and return fire that damaged one helicopter.

The couple now faces prosecution in New York on longstanding narco-terrorism indictments from 2020, tied to cocaine trafficking via the Cartel de los Soles and FARC alliances, capped by a $50 million bounty.

Raid's Relentless TempoAmid at least seven thunderous explosions targeting military sites like La Carlota airfield and Fuerte Tiuna—preceded by CIA surveillance since August 2025 detailing Maduro's routines, meals, attire, pets, and sleeping quarters—Delta teams breached steel fortifications under cover of cyber-induced blackouts and low-altitude helicopter assaults around 02:00 local time.

Residents awoke to tracer fire, smoke plumes, and roaring aircraft, as Vice President Delcy Rodríguez later alleged civilian and military deaths without specifics, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance underscored prior off-ramps rejected over persistent drug flows and stolen oil.

Trump, monitoring live from Mar-a-Lago, marveled at the speed and violence, confirming interim U.S. governance to reclaim resources and stabilize the oil-rich nation.Legal Reckoning LoomsEn route via USS Iwo Jima to Stewart Air National Guard Base, Maduro and Flores—whom Trump accused of leading a criminal syndicate—confront life sentences if convicted, amid Venezuelan vows of resistance and global outcry.

Opposition leaders like María Corina Machado celebrated the dawn of potential freedom, as Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine credited exhaustive rehearsals for flawlessness: We rehearsed again and again... to ensure we cannot get it wrong. This climaxes years of sanctions, isolation, and pressure, reshaping Latin America's geopolitical map.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar