(AP photo)
The United States overpowered Russian and Chinese military tech presence in Venezuela and successfully ousted and captured the sitting president from a fortified complex in Caracas, President Donald Trump claimed, as he flaunted American military strength and taunted rival power centers in Moscow and Beijing.Trump mocked the Russian and Chinese military technology used by Venezuela, saying it failed to prevent leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from being taken into custody by US forces under Operation Absolute Resolve.
Delivering the longest-ever State of the Union address, Trump took a sharp jibe, saying, “This was a major military installation, protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technologies. How did that go for them?”“American armed forces overwhelmed all defenses of the enemy to end the reign of dictator Nicolas Maduro and bring him to justice,” he said. “This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the US and a bright new beginning for the people of Venezuela.”Trump also underlined what he described as collaboration from the government of Venezuela following the operation.He also invited Venezuelan opposition politician Enrique Márquez, who had been held as a political prisoner and was recently freed under an amnesty effort by the interim Venezuelan government following Maduro’s ouster, to the address as a surprise guest.The strike under Operation Absolute Resolve, demonstrated that US weapons and equipment remain highly effective, according to some regional officials and defense analysts. The United States deployed more than 150 aircraft and integrated electronic attack systems alongside other non‑kinetic capabilities to suppress Venezuelan defenses and secure the capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their fortified compound in Caracas.Both Maduro and Flores were flown to the United States to face federal charges, including narco‑terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, in a rare and unprecedented legal action against a sitting head of state.According to Indo-Pacific Defense Forum, Beijing sold its JY‑27A radar to Venezuela and other countries, promoting it as capable of detecting stealth aircraft. The Chinese government claimed the long-range radar was reliable, mobile, and resistant to jamming, with the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation stating it could detect stealth aircraft at nearly 400 kilometers.During the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Maduro, however, the radar failed to detect American fighter jets and helicopters, allowing special operations forces to reach Caracas without resistance, according to Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.Venezuela had also invested about $2 billion in Russian S‑300 air defense missiles, support radar, and communications systems linked to the Chinese radar, along with Pantsir‑S1 gun-missile hybrids designed to counter drones and helicopters. Analysts reported that neither the S‑300s nor the Pantsir‑S1 fired during the operation.The episode can be seen as a failure for Chinese- and Russian-made defense systems in the scenario, particularly for Beijing, which markets its high-tech military equipment to foreign buyers.
