Explosions reported in Venezuelan capital Caracas | Venezuela

While explosions, loud noises and low-flying planes were heard in Venezuela’s capital Caracas, the president of neighboring Colombia claimed on social media that the country was under attack.

Gustavo Petro wrote to

According to the Associated Press, at least seven explosions were heard around 02:00 in the morning local time, and people in various neighborhoods ran to the streets.

“The whole place shook. It’s scary. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” said 21-year-old office worker Carmen Hidalgo.

Witnesses reported seeing smoke billowing from two key military installations in Caracas: the La Carlota military airport in the heart of the city and the Fuerte Tiuna military base, where Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro is long thought to have lived.

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The explosions follow a five-month US pressure campaign against Maduro that many analysts believe is designed to oust the Venezuelan leader. Since August, Donald Trump has ordered a massive military buildup off Venezuela’s northern coast and launched a series of deadly airstrikes on so-called “narco boats.”

The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday morning.

Trump has repeatedly promised ground operations in Venezuela amid efforts to pressure Maduro to leave office, including expanding sanctions, increasing the US military presence in the region and attacking more than two dozen ships allegedly smuggling drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

The United States also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of other tankers in a move that appeared designed to take a tighter grip on the South American country’s economy.

This is an evolving story…