January 20, 2026, 6:02 pm
In the early hours of January 3, 2026, the United States launched a decisive military operation in Venezuela, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The mission marked an unprecedented direct U.S. military action against a sitting head of state, drawing comparisons to historic interventions such as the 1989 Panama operation.
The operation began with coordinated airstrikes and precision attacks on Venezuelan air defenses and infrastructure across northern Venezuela, including around Caracas. These strikes were designed to degrade radar, missile systems, and command-and-control networks to enable unimpeded movement of U.S. forces.
Simultaneously, U.S. special operations forces moved into Caracas. Leveraging detailed intelligence and targeting, they breached Maduro’s fortified residence, capturing him and his wife without reported serious injuries to the principals. Afterward, both were transported to a U.S. naval vessel and subsequently flown to the United States to face longstanding federal indictments on narcotics and narco-terrorism charges.
It has now come to light that US Navy electronic-warfare jets played a key role in the operation.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how EA-18G Growler crippled Venezuelan air defense assets ?
#defenseupdates #usvenezuelaconflict #usvsvenezuela
Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
01:41 SPONSORSHIP – NordVPN
02:15 EA-18G GROWLER
06:09 ROLE IN VENEZUELA OPERATION
07:49 ANALYSIS
Sponsorship:
✴️ https://nordvpn.com/DEFENSE
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