Night of Fire: Caracas Rocked by Multiple Blasts Amid U.S.–Venezuela Standoff
Multiple explosions jolt Caracas as the U.S. and Venezuela trade sanctions and accusations, leaving residents to wonder whether the next blast will be diplomatic or military.
Chaos After Dark
CARACAS—The first blast tore through the humid night air at 9:14 p.m., rattling windows as far as the Avila ridge. Within minutes, two more explosions lit up the sky over the capital’s La Vega district, sending residents scrambling for cover and turning rush-hour traffic into a gridlock of sirens and flashing lights.
What We Know So Far
- At least three detonations reported in quick succession.
- State media blames “electrical faults” at a nearby substation; witnesses report the acrid stench of cordite.
- No official casualty count, but hospital sources tell this outlet “dozens” are being treated for shrapnel wounds.
Street-Level Accounts
“I thought it was an earthquake until the orange flash rolled over the rooftops,” said Carla Mendoza, 42, clutching her daughter’s hand outside the Padre Machado clinic. “We’ve seen blackouts, but never war in our barrio.”
Geopolitical Aftershocks
The blasts come 48 hours after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela’s gold exports and expelled Caracas’s chargé d’affaires. While U.S. officials stopped short of accusing the Maduro government directly, Secretary of State spokesperson Jenna Rourke warned that “any attack on American personnel will be met with decisive action.”
Power Struggle, Literally
Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez insists the incident was “a cascade failure” triggered by aging infrastructure. Yet opposition lawmaker María Corina Machado released unverified drone footage appearing to show a fireball erupting near a National Guard depot. The video, geolocated by Reuters to within 200 meters of the substation, has already racked up 3.2 million views on X.
What Happens Next?
Security analysts see a dangerous feedback loop: each blackout fuels public anger, each protest invites heavier militarization, and each foreign sanction gives the government a new external enemy to blame. With Caracas already under nightly internet throttling, reliable information is becoming the rarest commodity in a country that once exported oil, not uncertainty.