Today’s bombing of Venezuela: The United States carried out airstrikes in Venezuela on Saturday, January 3, 2026, capturing President Nicolas Maduro amid accusations that the leader turned the country into a “narco-state” and rigged elections.
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that Caracas was attacked along with states such as Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. At least seven attacks were reported and low-flying planes were heard in the country’s capital around 2am (local time).
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“The United States of America has successfully conducted a massive strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been captured and taken out of the country along with his wife,” said US President Donald Trump in a recent post on TruthSocial.
Here are 10 lesser known facts about Venezuela
1. Attempted assassination of Nicolas Maduro: In August 2018, several drones that were armed with explosives were aimed at President Nicolas Maduro in an assassination attempt during a military parade.
Maduro escaped unharmed, but the following day the interior minister announced that six people had been arrested in connection with the attack.
According to a CNN report in October 2018, one of the suspects in the assassination attempt on Maduro fell to his death from the 10th floor of the building. The country’s intelligence department said the cause of death was suicide.
2. Maduro was not Chávez’s preferred successor: Hugo Chávez, who was elected president of Venezuela in the 1998 elections, died in March 2013 after a long battle with cancer.
Hugo Chávez’s preferred successor was Henrique Capriles, not Nicolas Maduro, who narrowly won the election held after Chávez’s death.
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Data Britannica showed that Capriles disputed the election result and called for a full recount amid allegations of voting irregularities.
The National Electoral Council ordered an audit, but later Capriles himself refused to participate when the Council decided not to examine voters’ signatures and fingerprints on the registers in its investigation. Nicolas Maduro was soon sworn in as president in the month of April 2013.
3. Is Venezuela rich in minerals? Venezuela is a mineral-rich country with deposits of oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite and other minerals, along with hydropower and diamonds, CIA data showed.
The country uses 24.4% of its land for agricultural purposes (2023 data), 53.5% is forest and 22.1% is for other uses. However, the country is also threatened by floods, rock slides, mudslides and periodic drought.
4. Hyperinflation: Venezuela is a country that has experienced hyperinflation in its economy, with average consumer prices rising by 682.1% annually since 2026 data collected from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) website.
The country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was negative 3% in 2026, with the unemployment rate in the Venezuelan economy at 35.6%.
CIA data showed that the economy’s inflation rate rose by 200.9% in 2022, 1,588.5% in 2021 and 2,355.1% in 2020, according to official figures.
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5. Venezuela’s largest export partner: Venezuela’s largest export partner as of 2023 was the United States, with more than 50% of shipments to the country. Other trading partners were China with 10%, Spain with 9%, Brazil with 6% and Turkey with 5%.
Venezuela exports its 5 main commodities such as oil, petroleum coke, scrap iron, spirits and fertilizers.
6. Compulsory military service: In Venezuela, voluntary military service for women aged 25 is 18-30 months.
In the case of a minimum service obligation, the duration is 24–30 months for individuals and 17–39 months for militia service. However, all citizens of the country between the ages of 18 and 50 are required to register for military service and will be subject to military training.
7. Venezuela’s Drug Problem: US authorities have identified Venezuela as a major illicit drug producing and transit country and a major precursor to chemical production.
Although there is limited data, Venezuela’s drug problem includes the production of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and fentanyl, among other illegal drugs.
Due to the country’s geographic location, drug traffickers use Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama to transport illegal substances to the United States via ships, planes, and more.
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8. Oil reserves: World Population Review data showed Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, with more than 303 billion barrels by 2024, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran.
These oil reserves made the country a priority for the United States. According to a Progressive International news report, US oil companies have historically played a major role in the development of Venezuela’s oil fields.
The report also highlighted that the United States had tried every conceivable means to break Venezuela in 2014 and 2017 and now launched an attack against the country in 2026.
9. Corruption in Venezuela: A report on Project Borgen in late 2019 highlighted that the Maduro administration first attempted to silence political opposition in March 2017.
The government stripped the opposition-led parliament of legislative powers and immunity and allegedly used torture, extrajudicial killings and extrajudicial executions to maintain support in the years following the scandal, the report said.
10. Venezuelan Death Squad: The Borgen Project report also cited the United Nations as saying that the government supported death squads that killed nearly 7,000 people from 2018 to May 2019.
The report also claimed that Maduro tried to legitimize the killings by using the Venezuelan Special Police Force (FAES) to carry out raids that were said to be staged with family separation techniques and illegal cultivation of contraband and narcotics.
