"As they were jolted from their beds just before 2am on Saturday, many Caracas residents sought an innocent explanation for the racket that had interrupted their sleep: an exploding air conditioning unit, a tropical thunderstorm, an earthquake. Or perhaps a festive display of pyrotechnics over Venezuela's mountain-flanked capital. I thought it might be fireworks, Carlos Hurtado, a resident of the 23 de Enero housing estate on the city's westside, recalled"
"But as plumes of smoke rose over the country's largest city, air raid sirens rang out, and WhatsApp groups lit up with shaky cellphone videos of tangerine-coloured explosions, it became clear that the pre-dawn detonations were not the result of a natural disaster or defective appliance. After five months of intensifying US military pressure, Venezuela was under attack, with missiles raining down on army bases, airfields and key infrastructure across the capital and the surrounding region."
"They are bombing La Carlota and they're bombing Fuerte Tiuna, one resident of a middle-class area called Sebucan warned neighbours in a six-second voice message, referring to two of the city's most important military installations. La Carlota is an airbase in the heart of Caracas; Fuerte Tiuna is a heavily fortified military complex, long believed to have been the home of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro."
Residents were jolted awake just before 2am by a sequence of rumblings and explosions that many initially mistook for fireworks, thunderstorms or appliance failures. Plumes of smoke, air-raid sirens and viral cellphone videos made clear that the detonations were not natural or accidental. After five months of escalating U.S. military pressure, missiles struck army bases, airfields and key infrastructure across Caracas and surrounding areas. Reported targets included La Carlota airbase and the fortified Fuerte Tiuna complex, long associated with Venezuela's president. Video from nearby mountains evoked comparisons to the shock-and-awe campaign over Baghdad, and residents reported hearing aircraft overhead.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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