US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela

Top US military adviser describes the precision, scale and phases of the raid that led to Nicolás Maduro’s capture

The chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff has provided a detailed account of how the US military executed Operation Absolute Resolve, the unprecedented strike in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during the early hours of January 3. In a briefing alongside senior US officials, General Dan Caine described the operation as the culmination of months of planning, intelligence gathering and coordination across multiple domains of warfare.

According to Caine, the mission began when more than one hundred and fifty military aircraft — including fighter jets, bombers, drones, intelligence and surveillance platforms, and helicopters — launched from more than twenty locations across the Western Hemisphere to establish air superiority, degrade Venezuelan air defences and provide cover for the assault force.

US warplanes targeted key defensive positions and infrastructure to allow rotary-wing aircraft and special operations elements to penetrate deep into Caracas with speed and protection.

The extraction force, which Caine indicated included elite units equipped for precision engagement, moved into Maduro’s compound shortly after the initial air campaign, securing the site and taking Maduro and Cilia Flores into custody with minimal resistance.

Caine emphasised that the operation unfolded with “speed, precision and discipline”, and that despite some injuries and damage to a helicopter, no US personnel were killed.

The chairman credited the meticulous planning and integration of air, land, cyber and space assets for the mission’s success, portraying the action as a coordinated display of modern joint force capability.

The strike formed part of a broader US pressure campaign against what American leaders have characterised as narcotics-related threats emanating from Venezuela, with the White House asserting that Maduro will face US justice.

National and international reactions to the operation’s legality, strategic ramifications and humanitarian implications have varied, reflecting the extraordinary nature of a foreign head of state’s capture by US forces, while the Biden-era operational norms have been rapidly redefined under the current administration’s strategic priorities.