Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro directly avoided addressing the U.S. strike in the country, telling a journalist "perhaps we'll discuss it in a few days."
Concretely, Ignacio Ramonet asked Maduro about the incident, saying his government "has not confirmed nor denied" that information.
En relación al ataque en territorio venezolano del que habló Trump, Maduro evitó pronunciarse…
— Gabriela Gonzalez (@GabyGabyGG) January 2, 2026
“Eso puede ser un tema que quizás conversemos en unos días (…) lo que yo sí te puedo decir es que el sistema defensivo nacional ha garantizado la integridad territorial (…)”… pic.twitter.com/sOFJgUIT94
Maduro refused to answer, adding that what he could say was that "the national defense system has guaranteed territorial integrity, as well as peace in the country. "Our people are safe and at peace," he added.
The only direct reaction to the episode reportedly came from Venezuelan officials who visited the site of the U.S. attack against alleged cartel infrastructure.
A Venezuelan indigenous person who witnessed the attack told NBC News that the morning after government officials showed up to the area. "The gringos did this," one of the representatives said, according to the woman.
The attack in question hit what has been described as a remote dock in the Venezuelan coast believed to be used by the Tren de Aragua gang to load drugs onto vessels that would then journey through the Caribbean.
CNN cited sources with knowledge of the attack who said no one was present at the facility and there were no casualties. It added that Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support, but a spokesperson for the US Special Operations Command, Col. Allie Weiskopf, said that was not the case.
Trump acknowledged the strike last Monday but refused to disclose who was behind it. Speaking to press along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, Trump was asked whether the U.S. military or the CIA had conducted the attack. "Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want who it was. It was along the shore," Trump said.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also addressed the strike, acknowledging the facility produced cocaine, saying guerrilla group ELN is behind the operation.
In a social media last week, Petro said he knows "Trump bombed a factory, in Maracaibo, where coca paste is mixed to turn it into cocaine and take advantage of Maracaibo's location."
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