US cyberattack may have taken out Caracas’ power grid for Operation Absolute Resolve

Special Operations

By Stavros Atlamazoglou

January 6, 2026

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The U.S. military launched Operation Absolute Resolve over the weekend, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

The operation involved significant military and intelligence assets from across the U.S. military and the Intelligence Community. Reports indicate that more than 150 military aircraft participated in the operation, providing support to the assault elements, taking out important targets on the ground, and ensuring that nothing interfered with the high-risk operation.

Meanwhile, an assault force comprised of Army Delta Force operators and FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) special agents stormed Maduro’s residence.

Helicopters from the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), also known as the Night Stalkers, inserted and extracted the assault element, while also providing close air support in the vicinity of the target compound.

“It was dark, the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have, it was dark, and it was deadly,” President Donald Trump said during his press conference at Mar-a-Lago detailing the operation on Sunday morning.

The President essentially suggested that the U.S. deployed its powerful offensive cyber arsenal to take down the Venezuelan energy grid, enabling the assault force to achieve its objective with the least amount of opposition. No other military force in the world can operate as effectively in the dark as the U.S. military can. Darkness, thus, was a friend.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine also suggested in the same press conference that the U.S. military deployed cyber means to enable the operation when he said that the U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), U.S. Space Command, and regional combatant commands “began layering different effects” to “create a pathway” for the assault force.

CYBERCOM seal — CYBERCOM’s seal. (United States Cyber Command)

If the U.S. used cyber means to plunge Caracas into darkness as the assault forces were on their way, the comments made by Trump and Caine would be a rare acknowledgement of an offensive cyber operation. Usually, computer network attacks and computer network espionage operations are kept classified because of the diplomatic crisis a revelation could create.

One of the few known U.S. cyber offensive operations – indeed, the first such attack of its kind – took place between 2008 and 2010 when the U.S. and its allies deployed the Stuxnet malware in Iran’s covert nuclear program. Over 1,000 centrifuges were destroyed by the attack and Tehran’s quest for nuclear weapons was delayed for years.

Using computer network attacks in the initial stages of a wider military operation is becoming increasingly common. For example, in the opening hours of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Russian military and intelligence services launched a large-scale cyberattack against Ukraine’s command and control infrastructure. The goal was to disconnect the Ukrainian government and high command from the units on the frontlines, thus further deepening the natural fog of war.

To be sure, taking down the energy grid of Caracas could have also been done through physical means. Reports indicate that the Intelligence Community had boots on the ground in Venezuela since at least August. It is very likely that the military had also personnel in the South American country in advance to conduct operational preparation of the battlefield.

A kinetic cyber strike, however, is very plausible given the offensive capabilities of CYBERCOM, the NSA, and the CIA.

Feature Image: Image of Caracas during Operation Absolute Resolve with smoke visible in several locations. (Courtneybonneauimages/X)