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Multiple Explosions in Venezuela's Capital Caracas. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 03, 2026 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[02:00:23]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Two a.m. here in New York. I'm Polo Sandoval.

We're closely following breaking news from Caracas, where CNN has witnessed multiple explosions in the Venezuelan capital. I want to show you some of the first video of those explosions, this footage just into CNN, where you can see off in the distance, in the horizon, you see some of those plumes of smoke and even potentially some flames there in the distance.

The first blast, it was reported just before 2:00 a.m. local time. Several areas of the city currently without electricity. That's our understanding thus far. And CNN teams in the Venezuelan capital are reporting also hearing some aircraft above. I'm important to point out, at this particular point in time, there is no official information that seems to suggest that there is any sort of U.S. involvement in this.

However, this is extremely preliminary, but also important to keep in mind that U.S. President Donald Trump, he has repeatedly warned that the U.S. is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela, and that strikes on land would start soon. Remember, it was just late -- in late December that there was a dock facility that was hit by U.S. authorities, although it is again currently not clear that this was likely, potentially, that there's any possible involvement here in the United States.

However, we are continuing to dig and were also hearing from those folks on the ground. We want to go live now to journalist Mary Mena, who is standing by in Venezuela's capital.

Mary, as you tell our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world, where are you? What have you seen? What have you heard?

MARY MENA, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, I am in Caracas. I live in the center of the city. And for about, one hour or so ago, we woke up listening to detonations across the city and multiple people, of course, reporting that they heard those detonations, including some areas in the city without electricity. Those areas nearby of the port, which is the main military fort in Caracas, and also in the area of La Carlota, that it is a military building, a military infrastructure that serves as an airport that is in the center of the city. Well, the detonations have stopped for -- for now.

The last one we heard was about 20 minutes ago, but we kept listening like planes. What it seems to be planes, helicopters monitoring the city, passing by to across the city, and then the city remains quiet. We don't have like, people going to the streets because there's no information coming from the authorities or the state channel or the state media reporting what something is happening. We don't know if the Maduro government will take some, security measures. But so far, we have only what we are witnessing and hearing in the city, just since about 1:50 a.m. local time.

SANDOVAL: For something so extraordinary, Mary, to happen during a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela -- I mean, how unusual is it to not be hearing anything right now from the Venezuelan government or directly from Maduro himself?

MENA: Well, it is unusual considering, considering that the that people are afraid right now, listening to this, waking up with this -- with this situation with no clear information, of course, there's speculation, hypothesis and people, you know, reporting different scenarios across the city. And of course, this costs a lot of distress in the population.

But so far, as I said, we have no information, official information coming from the ministry of communication or the ministry of defense of Venezuela.

SANDOVAL: You mentioned that it was about an hour ago that you began to hear some of those explosions there in the center of the city. I'm curious, Mary, how long has it been since you last heard some of these detonations.?

MENA: About 20 minutes ago. They stopped. And right now, you can just, you know, feel the how quiet is the city and also those -- those planes, you know, passing by far away from, from the area that I am because I live in a residential area with many high buildings.

[02:05:11]

So I can hear clearly the planes, but I cannot see them, especially because its so dark right now.

SANDOVAL: As you know, since early September, the U.S. government began to target some boats that it claimed were being used to haul drugs off the coast. Can you just give us some insight into what has been sort of the mind, the thinking for so many Venezuelans since then? As for the last several months, we have seen not only those tensions escalate, but also the sights of the U.S. government. Perhaps expand, especially when, in late December, they hit that dock facility.

I mean, what have been some of the concerns for Venezuelans as they have lived with this threat coming from the White House?

MENA: Well, when you interview people or you ask them if they are worried about something military action inside Venezuela, they say, well, let's wait and see if something happens. For the past four months -- well, we received information coming from the U.S. Southern Command of the strike -- lethal strikes on the boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, which is far away.

Then we heard about the seize of oil tankers once again in the -- in the sea or in the Caribbean. But right now, I can say it's the first time that we clearly hear something disturbing, that it could be a potential situation, risky situation in key areas, especially military areas. And that is something that is remarkable here because when people refer to what is happening, they say, well, in the area of the -- Fuerte Tiuna, there's no electricity. In La Carlota, we heard something.

And those are places, or infrastructure, typically for members of the military forces. The government kept saying for many months that they were ready. They were prepared, that they had, they would the militia calling citizens to enroll in the militia. Also, that they that they, you know, make some military drills in several places. Also in the air and in the land, and they were bracing for something happen, but they didn't know, of course, as many people in Caracas.

For many months, people were concerned for a potential action, but more concerned about the economic situation. And that is something important to say right now, because many Venezuelans were concerned about the inflation that is rising. Highest level in the city more than the concern of a -- you know, a military, a proper military action. Right now, of course, this could change the situation.

And, of course we kept, trying to receive information as we can -- as we can, listening, monitoring all the media -- calling to the ministry of information. At least to get some -- sort of idea of what could be happening in the city right now. But so far, they have not provided us official information or clear information of what is happening in Caracas right now. Many people just, of course, woke up and they are still awake, waiting for information and waiting for.

It doesn't seem seems that, that a big infrastructure at least right now in the center of the city is being hit or a building or something like that, because I can see buildings with the with the lights on. And big building in the center of Caracas on.

So, it is difficult to, to say that something really is happening, because, as I said, what we heard was pretty clear -- clear detonations. Several of them in many -- in multiple locations, not all of them at once. They kept happening for about an hour. And now they have stopped after an hour ago of (INAUDIBLE).

SANDOVAL: And for those viewers who are joining us right now, a quick reminder of what were following these latest developments out of Venezuela with a series of explosions have been reported and confirmed, and have already been seen by our CNN colleagues there on the ground.

Now, there are a lot of things that we do not know, and that is at this point the cause of these explosions and exactly whether or not the U.S. may possibly be directly involved. Of course, I say that after we've seen this slow and steady escalation from the White House directed towards Caracas and the Maduro regime.

[02:10:05]

And joining us on the phone right now is Mary Mena, who reports that just within the last hour or so began to see some of those explosions and hear some of those explosions in Caracas.

Mary, it's from where you are. Is there any sign that the -- a possible threat perhaps could be subsiding, that maybe that these explosions have let up?

MENA: Well, right now, the citizens as I -- as I mentioned, they are careful, taking precautions. I don't see many people going to the streets or, you know, using their cars right now. It's quiet. It's a lot of quiet in the city so far.

SANDOVAL: What were some of the residents told leading up to this by Venezuelan authorities? I remember just a few months ago where we would see, or at least the Maduro regime were putting out pictures of people volunteering, essentially willing to take up arms in defense of their country. I mean, has that sort of sense of defense diminished in in recent weeks or perhaps months?

MENA: Well, it is because the government itself hasn't spoke about this openly. There's one specific issue recently that was reported by international media that an attack in Venezuela took place inside Venezuela, conducted by the CIA. As CNN reported a few days ago.

But Venezuelan president has remained quiet about that. Yesterday, he offered an interview with an international journalist, and he refused to talk about the topic, directly. He denied that -- well, he said he will talk about that later, but didn't mention the situation at all.

And he said he was open to talk to the United States. That was recently, hours ago. So, the information that we keep receiving from the government is a little bit confusing, because they don't speak openly about what could be happening inside of the government or the threats that they receive.

They keep saying to the population, you need to be prepared. You need to be ready when something happened, if something happened to us. But that's it. That's the message coming from the government over the past few months.

SANDOVAL: I'm wondering if we could just discuss the latest development that has really fueled some of these tensions. Of course, it was not long ago that CNN reported that at least five Americans had been detained by Venezuelan security forces, that the White House had said that they were detained in an effort to pretty much build effort against the United States.

I'm wondering if you can bring our viewers up to speed on what we seen in the last 24 or 48 hours when it comes to this slow and steady escalation between these two countries.

MENA: Oh, well, the information of the detention of American citizens came from, international media. Once again, as I said, the government doesn't like to report that or say that openly. We kept hearing the escalation over the past few months, like on December 30th, they reported a few attacks. The U.S. reported a few attacks on boats in the eastern pacific. Then the third one, the last day of December. They reported another one.

There's been sanctions against members of the Venezuelan government, that are doing some business with Iran. And that -- all that happened during the last days of 2025.

Then it was reported, this explosion in Venezuelan soil between Colombia and Venezuela, but far away from the lets say, a popular -- a big population center. This was a supposedly allegedly happened in the Guajira that is far from populated city in Venezuela. So, people didn't notice or they were -- they were concentrated in other topics. Ending a difficult year for many Venezuelans facing -- you know, facing problems, like, as I said, the economy facing shortages of electricity and water.

And some people were aware of what was happening with the U.S. government, but not, properly addressing that because they have other issues to, to be concentrated.

[02:15:00]

This is the first -- this is the first indication, this tonight, this situation, that it could be something, but we don't know yet. It is something directly related to the U.S. because as I said, we don't have enough information to say that. It could be some military drill. It could be some actions within the military forces of Venezuela. There are multiple hypotheses and information coming right now that we need to confirm.

SANDOVAL: It can be anything as, as, as you point out. But given the delicate situation of the relations between -- rather the situation, I should say between these two countries, it is certainly remarkable.

Do want to thank you, Mary Mena, a journalist there with the very latest on the ground with what you've seen and heard. We'll let you go so you can continue with your newsgathering and do come back to us if you learn anything new.

Again, Mary Mena, as we continue to follow the situation unfolding right now, were it's 3:15 in Caracas at this hour with multiple reports of explosions.

And as we continue to try to find out more about what could be behind them, I want to bring in now, CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon, who has reported extensively, particularly for the last several months out of Venezuela.

Stefano, we've seen your reporting for months now, and I'm curious if you can bring our viewers up to speed right now. What you know, and perhaps more importantly, what we still aren't really clear on yet.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): Yes, Polo. Well, I think that it's important to point out that these actions that we're witnessing, these explosions that we're witnessing today in the early hours of Saturday in Venezuela, I mean, really at a moment where the pressure has been rising in Venezuela since at least the late August, when the U.S. deployed these military force, in theory to -- in theory, to disrupt the drug trade. But actually, we know that that was about putting pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro.

And what we're seeing here could well be the result of that pressure. I think that Mary has been correct and is very wise to say that we don't really know whether the U.S. are behind these series of explosions. We understand that these explosions are taking place around military, or at least the strategic locations.

For example, according to trustworthy Venezuelan media, there are at least two other explosions in the port of La Guaira, which is about an hour north of Caracas. It's the largest port in the country and in an airport in Higuerote, which is another area a few hours east of the Venezuelan capital. So, it's not just confined to the Venezuelan capital.

However, military installations in the Venezuelan capital have been targeted as well. And I was saying, we don't know whether this is the United States finally attacking as Donald Trump has been threatening to do for some time, or maybe something internal, maybe someone else willing to make a move on Nicolas Maduro amid this climate of pressure, amid these, atmosphere that Maduros days are numbered, as the U.S. president has said time and again.

There is still a lot that we don't know. Of course, Venezuela is a country that has been living under an authoritarian government for at least the last 14 years. And so, the information doesn't flow as regularly as you might expect in other democracies. And we will make sure to bring it as much as we can as soon as we -- as we have it. However, a lot of questions here and very few answers right now -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: And just off of that point, Stefano, because the residents live every day under this authoritarian regime. And as you point out, information is very hard to come by.

In your conversations with just regular folks on the ground, is there any sense among them that the situation is as delicate as it is between their country and the United States? Do you think they know fully what's going on

POZZEBON: Yes. No. Yes. I mean, it's interesting. I always make a joke that whenever X is doomed to fail anywhere in the world, it won't fail in Venezuela. And the main reason why it doesn't fail in Venezuela is because the government bans it. It's formerly known as Twitter.

Because the government operates such a strong stronghold, a chokehold on information, there is a lot of alternative websites, a lot of alternative sources of information that you can access either via VPN or via other ways to bypass the government controls. And that creates a great source of information. I think a lot of people in Venezuela right now are frantically looking at their screens, frantically looking at their feet to understand what is going on, despite the fact that we still haven't heard any official reaction, neither from the White House.

But most importantly, we haven't heard from Maduro himself. We don't know where he is. We don't know whether he's being targeted personally in these ways -- these wave of explosions, and we don't know whether he will address the country anytime soon.

That will be the first. The first question that many Venezuelans are asking. But yes, they do know that the situation is really, really at a, at a at a crucial point, especially with the relationship with the United States. And it's also something that they've been hoping for and waiting for, for, for several years.

This is a country that has voted resoundingly against Maduro in 2024. That was not enough to dislodge him from power. Before that, there was mass demonstrations against his power. And again, those were repressed in blood in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

This is just the end of a gruesome and never-ending pressure cooker campaign that is happening around Venezuela, I think, for lack of a better word.

SANDOVAL: You know, the geography, Stefano. I'm curious if you could give us a sense of perhaps how close civilian populations are to some of these areas where these explosions are being confirmed in La Guajira and in Miranda.

POZZEBON: Oh, no, they're very close, but even more in Caracas. Like I was speaking with our colleague Osmary Hernandez, the CNN en Espanol correspondent, who lives in Venezuela, has been doing fantastic work there for the last 20 years. And she was telling me that one of the explosions were so strong that the windows of her kitchen, the glass windows were shaking for several minutes after -- after the explosion took place. And she could see smoke rising from across the hill.

Caracas is a city that has military installations at its core. There is a military base called Fuerte Tiuna, which is reportedly where Nicolas Maduro is. Some of the members of the of this government spend their nights, and that is one of the places that is targeted.

So, this is happening in front of everyone eyes. And a lot of people are scared, of course, because this is a country that, despite everything that Venezuela has gone through in the last ten years, one thing that they haven't gone through is an aerial attack. And we don't know whether this was indeed an aerial attack from the United States air force or something else, but it is something unprecedented that they've never seen before. And so, it's targeting areas that are very close to where people live.

SANDOVAL: You and Mary have emphasized this. It really is remarkable that well over an hour since some of these explosions began to be reported, still no mention of those on some of the local Venezuelan media.

Now, when it comes, just remind our viewers what has been the Maduro governments position in all of this. I mean, recently, they've accused the White House of warmongering and certainly reacting, quite angrily to the most recent explosion at a dock facility. So, what at all have they been issuing in terms of statements before today?

POZZEBON: Yeah. Well, the White Hou -- , the Maduro government has always played a line that Donald Trump is moved by neo-colonist and ideological reasons and want him out one way or another. And by the way, they've always denied any allegation that Maduro himself or members of the government are involved with drug trafficking, which is the main reason or the main justification that the White House has given us in their justification to go after Maduro himself personally. What is happening here is that we've seen this sort of confrontation on the rhetorical sphere take place for several years.

What happened this year, I should say last year, in 2025, is that suddenly this confrontation took a military concrete military aspect because of the deployment of the of the naval blockade from the United States. And so, Venezuela doesn't have the forces, the military forces and the military power to stem off an attack from the White House. If the White House indeed decided to go after Maduro, there's really not much probably, that he can do to save himself at least in a conventional way.

However, they have always gambled on the fact that Donald Trump is a president that said that he wants to finish war rather than open new ones, that he is going after the Nobel Peace Prize. And so, that -- that all of his saber-rattling was just saber-rattling and was not going to follow through with actual attacks.

Now, whether this is indeed, the result of a U.S. action, what we're seeing in front of our eyes today, this Saturday, or whether this is something else, it clearly shows that the level of confrontation has grown dramatically, has escalated dramatically, compared to what it was just six months ago when, yes, there were insulting and trading barbs at each other, but not really trading bombs.

[02:25:08]

And right now, what we're seeing is smoke rising over some of the most prominent military installations in the Venezuelan capital.

SANDOVAL: Yeah, that escalation was clear even before today. Let's briefly touch on the geopolitics here. Stefano, you mentioned the limited military capability that Venezuela has. Then perhaps what are its options when it comes to receiving support or help from allies, be it Iran or Russia or China?

POZZEBON: Yes. They issued a call especially to the to the security council of the of the United Nations, for example. That was shortly before Christmas, where they issued a call for the U.N. to discuss the seizure of tankers, which was another escalatory move from the United States when the United States started seizing tankers on the justification that there is currently an oil embargo against Venezuela.

And so, they asked -- the Caracas asked Moscow and Beijing to draw the issue and raise it at the U.N. Security Council. However, it's fair to say that probably they haven't received the sort of support that they would have expected only a few years ago.

Why I say so. There is a report of only one plane coming down from Moscow, with cargo in the last six months, who tracked that plane? We don't know what was on board there, but its only one plane. While in the states have really operated in this blockade.

The disparity of the military power is staggering. We're talking about more than 20, 25 percent of the total assets of the U.S. Navy is currently deployed against Venezuela. We're talking about the largest aircraft carrier in the world. Several destroyers, submarines, F-35s, which are the most advanced fighter jets and other drones, a lot of them.

And 14,000 between soldiers and marines. That should be ready to operate inside the country. Should the president give that order? Venezuela has issued calls to it's -- to its allies. I personally did ask the Venezuelan foreign minister a few months ago whether Russia would come to the rescue in case of an invasion, and he refused. He declined to answer that question specifically.

And I think that they would expect their allies to come after them. But at the same time, Russia has other, other, bigger problems to deal with closer to its borders. Right now, as we are all very well know, and China probably doesn't have the appetite to embark in a in a foreign expedition to defend an ally, Nicolas Maduro, that frankly, has become toxic all around the world because it becomes synonymous with a humanitarian crisis that has created this wave of Venezuelan migrants, that we've covered so much on CNN and on American media.

And so that's why I think Maduro feels very isolated and probably has been is more isolated than he's ever been. And this is adds to the pressure that he's under. And probably what we're seeing today is the result of -- of that pressure.

SANDOVAL: It is such an important point there. Stefano, it certainly speaks to the -- just the global nature of what's happening right now and the geopolitics.

Stefano, we'll give you a moment to continue to speak to your sources and try to get a little more clarity of the situation there on the ground and come back to you.

Stay with CNN right now as we continue to follow breaking news out of Venezuela. Multiple explosions in that country's capital. More after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:32:58]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage. As we continue to follow the situation in South America, Colombian President Gustavo Petro calling for the United Nations to meet immediately after explosions were heard in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas a few moments ago. CNN has reached -- already, rather, I should say, that CNN has witnessed several of those explosions early on Saturday morning, and the first blast that was recorded just approximately 1:50 a.m. local time. You can see some of the smoke rising in the distance there, in the area where the Venezuelan defense ministry is located.

Several areas throughout the city are currently without power, and CNN journalist in the Venezuelan capital could hear the sound of aircraft after the explosions. The blasts have also been witnessed just outside of the capital that was in the port area of La Guaira.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that the U.S. is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela, and its strikes on land will start soon, though it's important to point out, it's not clear exactly what could be behind those explosions in Caracas or if there is any possible U.S. role in this.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. Important to point out, we also have not yet heard anything from the Venezuelan government or President Maduro himself that has really lived under constant threat from the White House for months now.

Joining us live or on the phone is CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon. He has reported extensively from inside of Venezuela, speaking to members of the government and speaking to Venezuelans overall.

Stefano, I'm curious what you've heard and also some of the questions that you have right now for the Venezuelan government, when and if we hear from them.

POZZEBON: It's remarkable, Polo, that we haven't heard or we haven't seen any reaction from the Venezuelan government, even though it's been more than 90 minutes, more than an hour and a half since the first explosions were recorded in Caracas by our team at around 1:50 a.m. local time.

[02:35:01]

We appreciate, of course, it's in the middle of the night on a weekend, however, you would expect that at this point, the government would want to send a statement making sure that everyone understands that they are still in charge if that is indeed the case.

I say that because we also haven't heard from the White House themselves or from the Pentagon, so we don't know whether this is coming from the United States. If what we are seeing is the result of that direct military action that Donald Trump has been threatening and threatening to use for some time now, or whether this is something else. I wouldn't be surprised, for example, if this was an internal move against Nicolas Maduro from some of the factions that prop up his power inside Venezuela and that suddenly understand that he is in a moment of weakness because of this consistent and continuous pressure that he's been under, just like you pointed out.

The first question is, how long will it take for you to appear who is in charge now. Is Maduro -- has Maduro been targeted? We hear that some of the explosions, we know that some of the explosions took place in a -- in a military base called Fuerte Tiuna, that is in the center of western Caracas. And it's a -- it's an army base. It's both the headquarter of the military academy, for example, but it's also an area where several of the government officials, top government officials, have private residences, Maduro being one of them.

It's not clear, of course, whether he was there or whether the defense ministers there or whether the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was there. However, we want to know whether any of the top rulers in the country, the top layers of the government have been targeted directly. And, what's the damage? We thankfully haven't heard reports of casualties as of now in Caracas.

But, of course, it's still very early to make this assessment. So that is another area that we are looking and asking to local sources on the ground if they can keep honest with us in case somebody did get hit. Personally, because these attacks, these explosions took place in a heavily populated area both inside Caracas or in in other parts of the country, but still, in the midst of, civilian places of people live in the middle of the night. So the potential for collateral damage, of course, has been -- has been high.

What we're hearing from people in Caracas and especially from our team down there, is that several areas of the city remain without power. In some cases, the power has been restored and then went back again. And that could be read as an attempt from authorities to try to come up and touch up the system as quickly as possible and not been able to do that.

So, you add the -- to the -- to the chaos that always follows and explosions. But the many areas of the city are not now covered by power. And so, there is also a telecommunications in there.

But the wave of explosions has stopped. It was very targeted, targeted several locations inside the Venezuelan capital. And to ports to the north and the east of the capital. But now, it's a moment of the aftermath and understanding what will happen now, whether Maduro will still be in power as the toll rises in Caracas, because right now, it's 3:38 in the Venezuelan capital. So, we still have a few more hours before daylight, and a lot could change in the meantime -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: And I and I know it is extremely difficult to answer this question, but is there any possible indication as to whether or not the Venezuelan leader is in Caracas? I mean, given the recent holidays?

POZZEBON: Extremely difficult. You would assume that he might be. The last time he appeared, for New Year's Eve celebration, Maduro was indeed in Caracas. There is no way to know, but more likely for him to be in Caracas than anywhere else, probably.

I don't think that Nicolas Maduro was going on holiday this year, this holiday season, given his country for the last seven months. We're talking about really a pressure cooker environment with pressure growing and growing on his shoulder for the last few months and in recent weeks, every week has been an escalatory move. We had first, the target of kinetic strikes against the drug boats.

Then we had the seizing of -- the seizing of the tankers of oil. And then we had the covert operations by the CIA just before Christmas on December 18th, CNN was able to report that the CIA conducted an operation against a drug trafficking port on the north of the Venezuelan coast. And now, we're seeing this.

So really, an escalatory move and an escalatory trend. And you can see that Maduro, really, now, the big question is, how prepared was Maduro for this new escalatory move, for this new -- we don't know whether this is the United States directly attacking Nicolas Maduro or someone else taking advantage of this climate of pressure and tension to go after Nicolas Maduro themselves.

SANDOVAL: You've laid it out. It is a gradual escalation that we have seen since early September. Could this be the next step? The answer is we simply do not know.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much for that insight. We'll come back to you in a moment.

Stay with CNN as we continue to cover our breaking news coverage. Multiple explosions in Venezuela's capital of Caracas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:28]

SANDOVAL: I want to get you back out to our breaking news coverage out of Venezuela. Colombian President Gustavo Petro is calling for the United Nations to meet immediately. And this after explosions were heard in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas just a few moments ago. Blasts have also been seen outside of the city. The first explosion that was originally reported around 2:00 in the morning local time. Right now, it's about 3:45 a.m. there in Caracas.

It's important to note that at this time, the cause of these explosions, that is still unclear. Most importantly, we still do not know if there is any possible U.S. involvement. And of course, I say that given these escalations that we have been closely following for months now and a recent targeting by U.S. forces of a dock facility in Venezuela, and not to mention of those boats, those boats suspected of carrying drugs off the coast of this country.

And this certainly comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified his campaign against alleged drug from Venezuela. He has continually warned that land strikes within the Latin American country could happen any time.

I want to go back live to CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon, who has reported extensively on Venezuela.

Stefano, we've already discussed some of the options that this -- that the Venezuelan government would have if it is later determined that there is U.S. involvement in this -- in these latest events. And we've also heard from the Colombian president essentially calling for peace. Can you perhaps just widen here our perspective and talk a little bit

more about what some of the regional leaders have been saying about the situation unfolding between the U.S. and Venezuela, particularly in Colombia

POZZEBON: Yes, Polo. Hold on. But before we go there, we heard from the Venezuelan government. This is breaking news. It literally got it from the Venezuelan foreign ministry statement a couple of minutes ago, sent it to our news desk in Atlanta.

And they're going to, but allow me, I can translate a few of the lines. It's the first reaction we were saying minutes ago, how long would it take for the Venezuelan government to react, to show that they're still the ones in power after this action in the Venezuelan capital? Well, it didn't take too long.

This is a long statement that I'm just going to summarize for you and for the audience here live. They accused directly, talking of a most serious aggression, military aggression at the hands of the current government of the United States of America. So, they directly attack and blame Donald Trump at the White House for what we are seeing in the early hours of this Saturday here in Caracas.

They go on saying that these attacks took place in Caracas, but also in three other states Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. We were following reports of two of these states, Miranda and La Guaira. It's interesting that at least one third more state has been targeted in these Aragua and they talk of a flagrant violation of the charter of the United Nations, especially in the article one and article two, that talk about the respect of sovereignty, the equality jurisdiction, equality between countries. And the prohibition of use of military power.

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered a decree of state of emergency as a result, for the entire -- for the entire national territory, according to the statement, to protect the population.

So right now, there is a state of emergency in place in Venezuela. We knew that this was happening. The -- we knew that this was happening. This was a law that was passed a few months ago. And amid these rising tensions between the United States and Caracas.

The law stated that if there was an attack from the U.S. to Venezuela, there will be a military a state of emergency in place as, as quickly as possible. And Venezuela is currently now under a state of emergency. As a result, they call on all the other countries around the world to condemn these -- to condemn this attack, and blame personally, Donald Trump for this military escalation.

[02:50:07]

So at least we now have a direct reaction from Caracas. There is a state of emergency in place along the entire Venezuelan territory. And the state -- and the state of emergency that will remain in place for the time being. And, of course, a new sign of this escalation between Washington and the government of Nicolas Maduro -- Polo. SANDOVAL: A remarkable escalation that that would be, as the

Venezuelan government claims, as we wait to hear from Washington.

Stefano Pozzebon, thank you for getting us that brand new information right now.

Again, the Venezuelan government accusing the White House of these latest actions, particularly these a series of explosions that we've witnessed on the ground for the last couple of hours in Caracas and in the surrounding areas. Stefano will let you continue to speak to your sources.

I want to go now to CNN's military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, it's good to see you at this hour.

You and I have discussed this at length. We spoke really less than a week ago about what could be potentially on the horizon. I'm curious what you make of what the Venezuelan governments response was that Stefano just brought us a few moments ago, their claim that the U.S. government is responsible for this.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah. We don't know that right now, Polo, but it's one of those things where it's not surprising that Venezuelans have said that. And it is certainly logical that they would think that the U.S. government was responsible for the actions that we've seen so far, and especially about blasts in and around the capital like this, you know, probably hitting things like power stations and, other installations such as communications nodes, and headquarters of some of the military organizations. That at least seems to be what's going on right now.

So, once we get a clearer picture of, you know, what the air picture is, in other words, our aerial assets you know, conducting these operations, or is this a tomahawk missile attack or some combination of these kinds of activities that will give us a better understanding of exactly what's going on?

You know, there's also, of course, the possibility of land based sabotage, things like that. But it sounds like, at least based on the initial reporting that we're seeing and hearing right now, it does sound like this is some kind of an aerial attack, either using manned aircraft or the Tomahawk cruise missiles.

So that's -- that's the kind of thing that we're looking at right now. And, you know, the Venezuelans are making the logical deduction from their point of view that the attack, that this attack is from the U.S. or from U.S. forces.

SANDOVAL: And I'm glad you point out again, this is strictly hearing only from the Venezuelan government. We're still waiting to hear from U.S. authorities to see if they could potentially, claim responsibility for this.

You -- you and I also spoke about what actions, targeting sovereign territory could possibly mean. Again, that's if we get to a point where it is officially determined that the U.S. had a role in this.

Could that be considered some sort of an act of war?

LEIGHTON: Yeah. Any time a country attacks another country or, you know, an organization of one type or another, and usually this is between nation states. So, yes, it could very well be considered an act of war. And that, of course, has a lot of consequences associated with it.

We heard that the Colombian president, President Petro is calling for U.N. to be involved here. So, this is where it seems like, at least in Colombia's case, they're trying to kind of ameliorate what's going on and mitigate some of the things that are happening from a diplomatic standpoint.

But from a military standpoint, you know, you are seeing a direct attack. And this is what would normally be considered an act of war, an offensive action. And, you know, it's something where we'll have to look at -- you know, some historical parallels, perhaps, but, you know, how close is this to the kind of thing that we did in Panama back in 1989? That seems to be the closest historical parallel, but they're going to be, I'm sure, some differences in execution, types of forces that are used if this is indeed that military attack that we think it might be.

SANDOVAL: And a quick -- I wonder if you could just quickly remind our viewers of the heavy military presence that we've seen just off the coast of Venezuela, really growing over the last several months, with over 15,000 men and women, not to mention military assets. A strike like this, or an event such as this, it certainly would be within its ability to carry out something like this. I assume.

LEIGHTON: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly right. And, you know, we've got the carrier battle group, the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean just north of Venezuela.

[02:55:05]

You have those 15,000 primarily sailors and marines that are -- you know, located, basically everywhere from the northern shore of Venezuela, all the way up through Puerto Rico. So that is a significant presence. It's basically about a fourth of the combat power of the U.S. Navy. That's directly involved in this in one way or another.

So that's a significant amount of military force. And it is absolutely capable of conducting an operation that would involve you know, attacking targets in and around Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

SANDOVAL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, as always, appreciate you letting us tap into your expertise. Thank you for joining us.

Stay with CNN as our breaking news coverage continues with CNN's Ben Hunte.