US conducts military drill over Venezuelan capital Caracas

Venezuela’s government says it had authorised as an evacuation drill for possible medical emergencies or disasters

Members of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and people watch as a US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft approaches the US embassy during a military exercise, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 23, 2026. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

The US military conducted a drill over Caracas on Saturday, its first military exercise in Venezuela since US troops attacked the capital and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Jan 3.

Venezuelan authorities say that attack killed at least 100 people.

The drill, which the Venezuelan government said it had authorised as an evacuation drill for possible medical emergencies or disasters, included two MV-22B Osprey aircraft that landed near the US embassy and vessels that entered Venezuelan waters in the Caribbean Sea.

Venezuela's information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US embassy said in a statement it remained "committed to ensuring the implementation" of President Donald Trump's three-phase plan, "particularly the stabilisation of Venezuela."

Francis Donovan, commander of the US Southern Command, which oversees US military operations in the Americas, flew on one of the Osprey aircraft into Caracas, where he met with interim government officials.

"This keeps us on guard," said Evelyn Rebolledo, 57, an administrator living in the capital.

"A foreign country flying over the city itself, this is new to us and more so coming from the United States, given the current situation and all the turmoil in the country. It leaves us in a state of uncertainty."

Trump's administration has backed the government of Delcy Rodriguez, formerly Maduro's vice president, which has passed laws to open up Venezuela's vast oil reserves and mining resources to the U.S.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado spoke to hundreds of Venezuelan emigrants at a rally in Panama City on Saturday, pledging to continue organizing the movement.

"The moment when I will return to our country is getting closer," she said. "What is coming is big, what is coming is going to be massive."

The Nobel Prize laureate, who has sought to court Trump's favour, has spoken to supporters and leaders from across the world since she fled Venezuela last December after months of living in hiding.

Her opposition movement is widely seen as the legitimate winner of the 2024 election that Maduro was accused of rigging.