Calls For Venezuelans To Resist US Attack Even As Maduro’s Whereabouts Are Unknown
Following the US operation, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced that the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro were unknown
The United States military executed a series of strikes on targets within Venezuela, among them the Fuerte Tiuna base in Caracas and sites in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Following the US operation, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced that the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro were unknown, a statement that partially corroborated a claim by former US President Donald Trump that Maduro had been captured.
A Call for Resistance
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López has called on the nation to resist invading forces, following what authorities describe as a direct military attack by the United States on Venezuelan territory. In a public address, Minister Padrino López urged citizens not to yield to panic and to remain firm in the face of what he termed a national threat originating from Washington.
“Do not give in to the panic they seek to sow … Let us avoid chaos and anarchy, which are weapons as lethal as bombs. Let us be resilient, let us maintain our integrity in the face of adversity, and let us activate all national defense plans for which we have been preparing” Padrino López stated in a message published on his social media accounts, further announcing that authorities are currently gathering information regarding casualties from the US strikes.
The Defense Minister categorically stated the invasion’s objective is to force a regime change and subject Venezuela to imperial designs, thereby violating the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and International Law. He called upon all multilateral bodies and the international community to condemn this “cowardly attack.” Invoking the legacy of Simón Bolívar, Padrino López rallied the nation, declaring that while Venezuela’s vocation is for peace, its heritage is the fight for freedom. He urged unity between the people and the military to form an “indestructible wall of resistance”, concluding with a historic call to arms as “Honor, duty, and history call us.”
The Kidnapping Of Nicolas Maduro Partially Confirmed
In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump has claimed that “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” further stating the operation was conducted “in conjunction with US Law Enforcement” and that a news conference would follow at Mar-a-Lago. If this assertion were real and verified, it would represent an unprecedented, direct military intervention by the US, fundamentally altering the geopolitical landscape of the Western Hemisphere and constituting a casus belli of the highest order.
The immediate objective of such a declarative statement, presented as fait accompli, would be to shatter the operational chain of command and popular morale within Venezuela by presenting the conflict as definitively resolved, functioning as a potent form of strategic propaganda aimed at inducing immediate capitulation and chaos. This intervention represents a drastic and violent escalation of longstanding US pressure, which for years has included severe economic sanctions and the undemocratic recognition of opposition figures as legitimate leaders. However, given the monumental and legally contentious nature of such an act, its veracity and the actual on-the-ground consequences would only be clarified by time and independent confirmation from video or photo evidence and from other international sources.
In a statement that has partially confirmed Trump’s Truth Social post and intensified the crisis and sown deep uncertainty, Venezuela’s Vice President has declared that the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro “are unknown.” This announcement, made amid the ongoing conflict and following the US military’s claimed strike and capture operation, creates a critical power vacuum and fuels chaos. The admission from the highest levels of the Bolivarian government suggests a catastrophic breakdown in command and control, leaving the nation’s leadership structure in disarray. It forces the question of whether Maduro is in hiding, has been captured as claimed by US sources, or has met a different fate, transforming the military conflict into a profound political and leadership crisis for the Venezuelan state.
The US government’s failure to produce verifiable images or proof of custody of Nicolás Maduro, 24 hours after announcing his capture, would suppose a glaring and strategically significant omission. In modern information warfare, such visual evidence is a primary tool to demoralize an enemy, legitimize an operation, and control the global narrative. Its absence leads to inevitable and damaging conclusions, either the operation failed to secure its principal objective, the claim was a deliberate fabrication for psychological effect, or perhaps Maduro may have been killed in the process. If the stated goal was a regime change via capture and trial, showing Maduro in custody is imperative. Therefore, the continuing silence and lack of proof strongly suggest the possibility that Maduro was killed during the operation, either by design or in the chaos of combat, must be considered as possible explanations until evidence proves otherwise.
The brazen military incursion into Venezuela, culminating in the disappearance of its president, transcends the stated objective of regime change. It represents a definitive and violent assertion of hemispheric primacy by the United States via a Castling strategy. By decapitating a government long deemed a hostile adversary and challenging the regional influence of rivals like Russia and China, the operation is a stark reversion to classic sphere-of-influence politics. Its ultimate goal is to install a pliant authority in Caracas, transforming Venezuela into a strategic satrap and re-establishing Washington’s unquestioned dominance as the sole arbiter of power in the Western Hemisphere.