Why the Operation to Capture Maduro Has Generated So Much Concern in Moscow and Beijing

In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the mission to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, was already well underway. Several MH-47G Chinook helicopters from the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), the legendary “Night Stalkers,” flew into Caracas at barely 100 feet off the ground in a blacked-out city.

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The city was dark because U.S. Cyber Command flipped the switch and cut power to the entire grid. They also wreaked havoc on Venezuelan air defenses in a tour de force demonstration of the real capabilities of electronic warfare.

SOAR flew directly to the presidential palace, where about two dozen Delta Force special operators disembarked and carried out their mission flawlessly and with total surprise. 

The Chinese were angry