"Coromoto Escalona, a 35-year-old woman, was preparing her baby's feeding bottle when she heard some strange noises in the house. It was two o'clock in the morning. She wondered whether the fridge had broken down, since it sometimes made strange noises when it was damaged. Her eldest daughter, who was scrolling on WhatsApp, shouted from her room: Mum, they're bombing us."
"The two of them stopped what they were doing, grabbed the essentials the feeding bottle, water and some food and ran to an underground room in their house, an old colonial mansion in La Pastora, a working-class neighbourhood in central Caracas. Coromoto's testimony is one of many you hear in Caracas these days, a week after the US military attack on the Venezuelan capital which concluded with the capture of Maduro."
"In 1936, Venezuelans learned for the first time what it meant to transition towards democracy. While this was not the only period of transition the country would experience (since the process that began in 1958 consolidated a more open and enduring political regime), the transition of 1936 was longer and more complex, resembling the one Venezuelans are now experiencing after the capture of Nicolas Maduro on 3 January 2026."
In 1936 Venezuelans experienced a transition toward democracy after the death of long-time dictator Juan Vicente Gomez. The 1936 transition was long and complex and set early guarantees of freedom. Later processes beginning in 1958 consolidated a more open and enduring political regime. In January 2026 a US military attack on Caracas resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro and widespread bombings that forced civilians into shelters. Residents likened the violence to the 4 February 1992 bombings during Hugo Chavez's uprising. Personal testimonies describe sudden nocturnal attacks, hurried flight to underground rooms, and the retrieval of essentials amid fear.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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