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The U.S. military launched strikes against Venezuela and captured its dictator, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3 — emerging from the operation largely unscathed as it handicapped Venezuela’s defense systems and potentially conducted cyber operations against Caracas.
Altogether, more than 150 aircraft — including U.S. bombers and fighter jets — were involved in the operation, successfully completing a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela, according to President Donald Trump. Additionally, Caracas, Venezuela, suffered power outages early Jan. 3 — an indication of a potential cyber operation.
Trump signaled that the U.S. may have been behind the blackout in Venezuela but did not provide details regarding the nature of a possible cyber operation targeting Venezuela’s civilian infrastructure.
“The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump signaled that the U.S. may have been behind the blackout in Venezuela. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press )
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Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ defense and security department, said that while it’s unclear what exactly U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and Space Command (SPACECOM) contributed to the operation, they may have penetrated some of Venezuela’s infrastructure.
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“We don’t really know what cyber did, some of the lights did go out, and Caine did talk about it,” Cancian told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “It’s possible that (they) got into some of their command and control systems.”
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that as U.S. helicopters with the extraction force and other law enforcement assets started to approach Venezuela’s shores, the U.S. “began layering…
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