Young Venezuelans displayed uncontainable joy in a live stream upon learning of the U.S. strike and capture of Nicolás Maduro, while X users shared details of a U.S. special operations helicopter convoy—more than a dozen MH-47s and MH-60s—overflying Fort Tiuna in Caracas shortly before 2 a.m. local time on January 4, 2026, according to posts by @ImMeme0 and @fab_hinz between 12:15 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. UTC today. President Donald Trump stated Maduro was seized from a heavily fortified military fortress in central Caracas after reaching steel doors he could not close, with a @vantortech satellite image showing U.S. forces destroyed a hillside underground entrance near the site, as quoted in the X post by @fab_hinz citing a Washington Post report and verified videos alongside the U.S. government's account. @fab_hinz expressed skepticism that the site was an underground entrance, describing it as consistent with a regular earth-covered ammunition storage bunker, in the post shared during the 29-minute window ending at 12:45 p.m. UTC today. These reactions follow the U.S. operation that transferred Maduro and wife Cilia Flores to a Brooklyn detention facility earlier on January 4, as previously reported, with first footage emerging before 10:15 a.m. UTC today per CNN and Axios.
