The White House on Saturday shared a first-hand account of the US military raid that led to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, sharing a dramatic narrative from a Venezuelan security guard who said Venezuelan regime forces were overwhelmed in what he described as a “massacre.”
Top US General Dan Caine said the goal of "Operation Absolute Resolve" was purely to seize Maduro, with airstrikes clearing the way for helicopters used in the capture raid.
“Stop what you are doing and read this,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote while sharing the post online.
An alleged first-hand account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Venezuela's former President Nicolás Maduro has offered a chilling glimpse into the night operation that led to the leader’s capture.
Stop what you are doing and read this… 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/v9OsbdLn1q— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 10, 2026
Recounting the events of the operation, the guard said to the interviewer that the first sign of trouble was a complete systems failure. “On the day of the operation, we didn't hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” he said. Moments later, he added, “the next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn't know how to react.”
According to the guard, helicopters followed soon after, but in surprisingly small numbers. “After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters,” he said. From them descended what he estimated to be a small force. “Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn't look like anything we've fought against before.”
What followed, he claimed, was swift and overwhelming. “Yes, but it was a massacre. We were hundreds, but we had no chance,” the guard said. Describing the intensity of the assault, he added, “they were shooting with such precision and speed... it seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn't do anything.”
He said conventional weapons offered no defence, alleging the use of an unfamiliar device. “At one point, they launched something—I don't know how to describe it... it was like a very intense sound wave,” he said. “Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.”
The guard claimed the outcome was devastating. “Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us,” he said. “We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I've never seen anything like it. We couldn't even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.”
Reflecting on the wider implications, he issued a stark warning to others in the region. “I'm sending a warning to anyone who thinks they can fight the United States. They have no idea what they're capable of,” he said. “After what I saw, I never want to be on the other side of that again. They're not to be messed with.”
Asked whether the incident would change calculations across Latin America, especially after remarks attributed to former US President Donald Trump, the guard replied, “Definitely. Everyone is already talking about this. No one wants to go through what we went through.” He added, “What happened here is going to change a lot of things, not just in Venezuela but throughout the region.”
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