The China Mail - Pets, planes and a 'fortress': inside Trump's raid on Maduro

From American spies in Caracas to a picture of the leftist leader blindfolded and handcuffed, here is a blow-by-blow account of how "Operation Absolute Resolve" stunned the world.

- 'What he ate' -

US intelligence agents had been secretly monitoring leftist Maduro's every movement since August, despite his widely reported efforts to regularly change locations as tensions mounted with Washington.

"How he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore -- what were his pets," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine said Saturday as he described the surveillance.

The mission also involved months of "pinpoint" planning and rehearsal. Trump said US forces built a replica house identical to the one where Maduro was staying.

The US military was ready by early December but waited for a window of "aligned events," including the weather. Trump said he initially ordered the mission four days ago, but held off for the right conditions.

- 'Good luck and Godspeed' -

At 10:46 pm Washington time on Friday (0346 GMT Saturday), Trump gave the order to go.

"He said to us -- and we appreciate it Mr President -- 'Good luck and Godspeed.' And those words were transmitted to the entire joint force," said Caine.

More than 150 US military aircraft then took off from land and sea, including fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, drones -- and the helicopters that would form the crucial core of the mission.

The helicopters carrying the "extraction force" for Maduro took off into the darkness, flying at just 100 feet (33 meters) above the surface of the ocean, said Caine.

Fighter jets provided air cover while US satellite and cyber capabilities blocked Venezuelan radars.

- 'Knew we were coming' -

The first explosions began to rock Caracas just before 2 am (0600 GMT), according to AFP correspondents.

As the world wondered if it was the start of a widespread bombing campaign of Venezuelan targets, US aircraft were in fact only striking Venezuelan air defenses to allow the helicopters to get to their target.

"They knew we were coming," Trump told a press conference, referring to the tensions that had been building for months. "But they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated" as US aircraft returned fire.

One US chopper was hit but remained operational and made it home afterwards.

The helicopters finally popped over the hills surrounding Caracas, and believing that the extraction team had maintained the element of surprise, landed at Maduro's compound at 2:01 am Caracas time (0601 GMT).

- 'Like a fortress' -

Trump said he watched the climax of the operation on a live feed.

Pictures released by the White House showed him sitting in a makeshift situation room at his Mar-a-Lago resort with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe, Caine and other officials.

"I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show," Trump told Fox and Friends.

The US president described Maduro's compound as "a fortress."

"It had steel doors, it had what they call a safety space where it's solid steel all around. He didn't get that space closed, he was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn't get into that," he told Fox.

"We were prepared with massive blowtorches to get through the steel, but we didn't need them."

Trump said no US personnel were killed -- but said Maduro "could have been" had he or Venezuelan forces tried to resist.

- 'Gave up' -

Caine said Maduro and his wife "gave up" and were taken into custody by law enforcement officers on the mission. The pair face US drugs and terrorism charges.

The US helicopters crossed the Venezuelan coastline at 3:29 am and the couple were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima.

Trump then broke the news in a post on Truth Social at 4:21 am Washington time.

Minutes later, a senior White House official sent an AFP reporter a message consisting of emojis for a muscled arm, a fist and fire.

The first the world would see of Maduro -- blindfolded, cuffed, wearing ear protectors and a Nike tracksuit -- came in a later Trump social media update, posted without comment.

L.Kwan--ThChM