Havana, January 4th.- At 1:58 a.m., while Venezuela was asleep in the early hours of January 3rd, U.S. missiles struck residential areas and military zones in Fort Tiuna, Caracas; Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, culminating in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, the First Lady, Cilia Flores.
The hybrid war that Washington has been waging against the South American nation for over 25 years reached its peak with this criminal action, after 28 weeks of aggression, airspace closures, naval blockades, confiscation of oil tankers, extra-judicial killings in the waters of the southern Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.
Following the attacks, in which several deaths and injuries were reported, the Bolivarian government denounced the grave military aggression that also threatens the peace and stability of Latin America and the Caribbean. "A colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a regime change, in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail like all previous attempts," stated the document.
In this regard, the Venezuelan Executive decreed a State of Foreign Commotion throughout the national territory, signed by Maduro and submitted to the Supreme Court of Justice to reinforce its constitutional character, so that everything planned within it may be executed. Likewise, it called upon the country to mobilize against this imperialist maneuver.
Similarly, it ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Integral Defense of the Nation and the Leadership bodies for Integral Defense.
In this context, it requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, responsible for upholding International Law, which will take place this Monday.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed his fascist grip behind this operation and announced that he might order a second attack if Venezuela did not accept being governed by his administration.
Maduro Hold On, The People Are Rising
The Venezuelan people gathered the previous day around the Miraflores Palace as a show of support for the president they voted for in July 2024, demanding his release and insisting on respect for national sovereignty.
Amid the popular demonstration, the people reaffirmed their trust in their leader to steer the destiny of the Homeland of Bolívar and Chávez, loudly proclaiming: "Maduro, hold on, the people are rising!"
Tricolor flags, placards, and images of Bolívar, Chávez, and Maduro filled the streets of Caracas, accompanying a sea of people mobilized to demand an end to Washington's aggressions against their country and leaders.
Late in the afternoon, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela ordered Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume and exercise all the duties and powers of the presidency as acting president.
Tania D´Amelio, head of the TSJ, explained the procedures followed by the court given the forced absence of the president of the Republic, in light of the exceptional situation generated by the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro Moros.
According to PL, the body argued that this constituted "a case of material and temporary impossibility to exercise his functions," and ordered the vice president to assume the head of state role to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the nation.
Shortly after nine at night, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being transported by helicopter to Manhattan and escorted to the facility by a caravan of police vehicles, confirmed the New York Police Department to CNN.
(Taken from Granma)
