Maduro and his wife were taken into US custody during the operation and transferred to New York, where they are expected to face federal charges.
Maduro has denied wrongdoing. The White House has not released detailed information about the legal basis or mechanics of the operation.
Pentagon references “layered effects”
General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during the same press conference – first reported by Politico – that US Cyber Command, US Space Command, and other combatant commands “began layering different effects” to “create a pathway” for US forces entering Venezuela early on Saturday.
Caine did not go into detail as to what those “effects” involved. Spokespeople for the White House, US Cyber Command, and US Space Command did not respond to requests for comment, Politico reported.
If cyber operations were involved, it would mark one of the rare public acknowledgements of US cyber capabilities being used directly against another nation’s infrastructure, operations that are typically classified.
Outages confirmed by independent monitors
Independent monitoring ground confirmed disruptions to power and connectivity in the Venezuelan capital during the operation.
Global internet monitoring organization Netblocks reported a loss of internet connectivity in Caracas early Saturday, coinciding with power cuts.
Netblocks also posted publicly on X that connectivity data showed significant disruption during the period of reported power loss.
Prior attack on Venezuela’s state oil company
Saturday’s events follow earlier accusations by Venezuela’s state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), which last month claimed it had been targeted by a cyberattack that it blamed on the US.
In a statement released on 15 December, PDVSA said the attack caused operational delays but did not halt production, accusing Washington of attempting to undermine Venezuela’s energy sector amid heightened US pressure on the Maduro government.
The US government has not publicly confirmed involvement in those alleged incidents.
Source: Cybernews