Featured image: Early morning smoke after US bombing in Caracas. Photo: RT.
A night of terror, anguish, and fear that they have yet to overcome was part of what Venezuelan families in Greater Caracas experienced.
Terror and fear will surely remain forever in the memory of Venezuelan families who, in the early hours of January 3, 2026, saw their rest, their dreams, their routines, and their plans brutally interrupted by the criminal bombings carried out by the United States regime against Venezuela.
Four women, one suffering
Just minutes before 2 a.m. on January 3, her three-year-old twin daughters were sleeping; the girls’ grandmother was asleep as well, while she—Gómez, 33 years old—was sitting at her computer editing photos when a deafening noise startled her. She feared that the military invasion threatened by Donald Trump against Venezuela for 28 consecutive weeks had finally materialized. In seconds, horrifying images crossed her mind. This is how she described it.
This small family lives in Ciudad Tiuna, Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas—yes, that military zone where the Eternal Commander Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro built dignified housing for humble, working people over 15 years through the Great Venezuelan Housing Mission (GMVV).
From that moment on, Gómez’s fear was no longer for her own life but for that of her two angels and the woman who gave her life. At the first explosion, her mother woke up in anguish. Through tears, they did what every mother does first: act as a shield in any scenario to protect two innocents—two little girls whose dreams of cookies, sweets, and colorful worlds were shattered by racing hearts and the tears of their protectors.
At 3 a.m. that day, she sent an audio message to this outlet; the message never went through because the area lost electricity as a result of the US attacks. We received it almost 16 hours later. Her voice was filled with anguish, yet she tried to convey calm: “We’re okay, friend, sheltered. Several detonations have been heard, machine-gun fire or I don’t know what, super close, like from a helicopter. The last one was practically over us because it sounded extremely close. We are sheltered, my phone battery is dying. My mom and the babies are super nervous.”
When we learned of the attacks on the country and that Fuerte Tiuna was one of the hardest-hit areas, she was the first person we tried to contact—to see if she was safe, if she needed help, and to have her describe what was happening. Not hearing from them was agonizing.
Her voice in the audio reflects anguish but also bravery. In the background, however, the crying of one of the babies and the mother’s pleas to God for everything to stop make it impossible not to cry and not to ask: Did these four women—and the thousands of innocents who that night became military targets of the United States—do anything wrong? Is it fair for innocent beings to live through such anguish because of Donald Trump’s greed, and that of the rest of his regime, for Venezuelan oil?
Today Gómez, her two daughters, and her mother are taking refuge in a friend’s home. The warmth of their house—the one where the little girls run, draw, laugh, and get into all kinds of mischief every day—had to be evacuated amid threats from Donald Trump, who, after openly acknowledging the crimes committed against Venezuela, including the kidnapping of constitutional President Nicolás Maduro, said he is ready “to launch a second, much larger attack” against Venezuela “if necessary.”
After the terror she endured and continues to endure—since it is impossible for her to forget the fear of possibly losing her daughters or her mother, or of dying herself and leaving two small girls alone—she posted a message on her WhatsApp status aimed at those who so cheerfully and criminally called for US action against the country: “If you’re going to call for an invasion of your country, don’t do it from abroad—do it from the homeland and feel the terror we lived. To those who asked for an invasion of my homeland, don’t even ask how we are.”
Shock and trauma
In the same Fuerte Tiuna, a nearly 70-year-old mother and her 31-year-old daughter fled in terror when they heard the attacks. Unlike Gómez, they had a vehicle, which facilitated their escape from the lethal attacks of the US empire. They arrived in shock at a relative’s home in another area of the Venezuelan capital. We heard from them that same night because they were able to let us know they were safe.
Even today, they tremble from the vividness of what they lived through—the sound of helicopters nearby, the fear of dying without having done anything wrong, simply for having dignified housing delivered during the Revolution. They remain sheltered by the sister and aunt who took them in that disastrous dawn of January 3.
“I see mountains of fire”
Images of the damage and destruction caused by the US in Ciudad Tiuna are circulating on social media, along with several victim testimonies broadcast in recent hours by Telesur. One of them is from Xilenia Prato, sister of two Army colonels who were wounded in the line of duty while defending the homeland: “My older brother was wounded; he just came out of surgery. He was injured in the head, part of his leg, and his hands. I have to wait to see how he reacts; I haven’t been able to see him,” she told the outlet, adding that the other brother is fine.
Like hundreds of military families, she lives in Ciudad Tiuna, which, as she herself describes, is home to many more civilians than members of the armed forces. Her home is in the SimĂłn BolĂvar housing complex, Los Chinos sector. There, at 2 a.m., the detonations woke her up: “I looked through the large window facing the mountains. I woke up gripping my dad tightly. I see mountains full of fire; I hear helicopters, flyovers, detonations. I said, I have to call my brothers. They said the first thing they heard was the flyovers and then the detonations,” she said through tears.
She described seeing men, women, boys, and girls running out of their apartments in panic: “Everyone was horrified … I saw the fire where my brother was injured.”
Defending the homeland
Venezuelan soldiers recounted some of the actions they carried out to defend the country from the US military attacks. Their testimonies were also collected by Telesur. Among them were Sergeant Francisco Machillanda and Third Master Sergeant Ricardo Salazar, who were at the National Experimental University of the Armed Forces (UNEFA), located next to the La Carlota military base in Miranda state.
“They attacked,” Machillanda recounted, “and when the helicopter tried to land at the unit, we had to act, because otherwise, they would have taken the unit at that moment. The helicopter rose again and left; they saw that there was personnel there, that shots were fired in several places, and they couldn’t land.”
Filled with patriotic fervor, Machillanda affirmed that he remained ready to “defend the homeland” despite his injuries.
Salazar, for his part, explained that he has shrapnel embedded in his leg and that although he wanted to stay at the site, he was ordered to seek medical attention like other comrades wounded during the bombing.
Where are human rights?
The head of government of the Capital District, Nahum Fernández, also shared images on Instagram of destroyed homes in Fuerte Tiuna. In the video, a voice can be heard asking the US soldiers, “Where are the human rights?” that country so often preaches about.
Fernández also shared other videos showing damage to structures across Greater Caracas.
Destruction in La Guaira
Multifamily buildings in the La Soublette sector, Catia La Mar parish, La Guaira state, were destroyed, as shown in images shared Saturday afternoon by the Minister for Labor, Eduardo Piñate, on Instagram:
“This is the result of the anti-national preaching of the fascist right and the regime-change policy of imperialism that wants to seize our natural resources and enslave our people. They have not been able to, and they will not be able to. We will prevail,” he wrote.
Elderly woman burned
An 87-year-old grandmother suffered burn injuries to her left arm when the US dropped a bomb that struck the residence where she lived in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state. The information was reported by Telesur journalist Madeleine GarcĂa on Instagram.
“Like Gaza”
A young woman who lives near the Generalisimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base (La Carlota) in Miranda state described how intense it was to witness the US military attacks against Venezuela. She compared the experience to the horrific images of war seen in Gaza, where the Zionist entity and its US paymasters are committing genocide against the people of Palestine. Her testimony was posted on Sunday, January 4, on the Instagram account of Luis DĂaz, known online as “El Chamo del Pelo Azul.”
“The stress is horrible,” she said, immediately condemning Venezuelans abroad who celebrate the bombings and military attacks launched criminally by the US against Venezuela. “I can’t sympathize with that… We are close to La Carlota, and it was so intense. I just heard the missiles—it was exactly like the videos you see from Gaza, from war. That’s exactly how we lived it. It was horrible.”
“We heard the boom and the house shaking,” she added. “It was such a horrible experience. I heard helicopters, planes.”
Home damaged in La Boyera
In La Boyera, Miranda state—an area historically inhabited by the middle and upper classes and where most residents oppose the national government—a home was severely damaged.
Brutality against civilian and military locations
In the early hours of January 3, the US attacked civilian and military locations in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, the Venezuelan government reported in a statement that morning. The official text stated that “this act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of states, and the prohibition of the use of force.”
Before 6:10 a.m. on that tragic January 3, the vice president of Venezuela—now acting president—reported that the imperial attacks had left fatalities: “They have taken the lives of military personnel who become martyrs of our homeland and the lives of innocent Venezuelans—civilians in the various attack sites, both in the capital city and in the states of Aragua, Miranda, and La Guaira,” she revealed on Venezolana de Televisión.
Shortly after noon on Sunday, January 4, the Minister of Defense, General Vladimir Padrino, reported that most of President Nicolás Maduro’s security team was murdered in cold blood during the abominable act of kidnapping the head of state.
So far, the total number of dead, wounded, and the full extent of the damage caused by the illegal US military attacks on Venezuela are unknown. What is beyond doubt is that January 3 will be remembered not only in BolĂvar’s homeland but around the world as a day of terror—a day when Donald Trump and part of his cabinet, believing themselves owners of the world, attacked an innocent people and a sovereign nation with the right to choose its own government, elect its leaders, and decide its own destiny, because that is what freedom means.
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January 3, 2026, will go down in history as the day the world was left in danger, at the mercy of the US, who violated their own laws, broke international law, violated the Charter of the United Nations, and who—48 hours later—have yet to face decisive punishment from bodies such as the UN Security Council, the institution tasked with stopping acts of barbarism like the one committed by Trump and his accomplices against Venezuela.
The world is in danger, and the multilateral organizations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the puppet governments of the empire, and anyone who supports the US in their aggression against Venezuela are accomplices in human rights violations against an innocent people and accomplices in acts of war.
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(DiarioVEA) by Yuleidys Hernández Toledo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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Cameron Baillie is an award-winning journalist, editor, and researcher. He won and was shortlisted for awards across Britain and Ireland. He is Editor-in-Chief of New Sociological Perspectives graduate journal and Commissioning Editor at The Student Intifada newsletter. He spent the first half of 2025 living, working, and writing in Ecuador. He does news translation and proofreading work with The Orinoco Tribune.
