US “Operation Southern Spear” Decimates Key Venezuelan Military Bases

The United States has launched a devastating series of coordinated airstrikes against the Venezuelan military infrastructure, systematically neutralizing the country’s ability to respond to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. In what Pentagon officials are describing as a “decapitation of capabilities,” US naval and air assets struck high-value targets across five strategic zones: Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia, El Libertador, and Orchila Island.
The operation, carried out under the cover of darkness early Saturday morning, focused primarily on crippling the Bolivarian National Armed Forces’ (FANB) air superiority and coastal defense systems. The most significant damage appears to be at the El Libertador Air Base near Maracay (close to Valencia). Intelligence assessments indicate that the runways and hangars housing Venezuela’s fleet of Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighters and F-16 jets were hit with precision munitions, effectively grounding the country’s most potent aerial threats before they could scramble.
Simultaneously, US forces targeted Orchila Island, a highly strategic military outpost north of the mainland. The Antonio Díaz Naval Air Base, located on the island, was reportedly struck to disable its S-300 air defense batteries and naval monitoring capabilities. By neutralizing Orchila, the US effectively secured a safe corridor for naval and aerial operations in the Caribbean, denying the Venezuelan Navy its primary forward operating base.
In Maracaibo and Valencia, strikes focused on armored division headquarters and logistics hubs, preventing the mobilization of ground troops toward the capital. Meanwhile, in Caracas, precision strikes reportedly hit command-and-control centers within Fuerte Tiuna, the country’s central military complex, severing communications between the FANB high command and regional units.
“The strikes were highly strategic, designed not to destroy the Venezuelan military entirely, but to blind and paralyze it,” noted defense analyst Dr. Elena Rostova. “By taking out the runways at El Libertador and the radar eyes on Orchila, the US ensured total air dominance within the first hour of the conflict.”
Early battle damage assessments suggest the operation was swift and met with limited resistance. Reports indicate that Venezuelan air defense systems were overwhelmed by electronic warfare jamming prior to the kinetic strikes, leaving the skies wide open for US aircraft. With the leadership in custody and the military’s “nervous system” severed, the path for a potential transitional government—or further US operations—remains unopposed.