Shots fired near Venezuela presidential palace: witnesses

Presidential guard troops stand outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

Shots were fired late Monday near Venezuela’s presidential palace, witnesses said, days after U.S. forces captured the now-deposed president Nicolas Maduro in a military raid.

A source close to the government said the situation was under control.

Unidentified drones flew over the Miraflores palace in central Caracas and security forces opened fire in response around 8:00 pm (0000 GMT), the source said, hours after Maduro’s deputy Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president following his removal.

Bursts of gunfire rang out but not as strong as in the pre-dawn attack Saturday that toppled Maduro, according to a person who lives five blocks from the palace, who said the incident lasted about a minute.

“The first thing that came to mind was to see if there were planes flying ovehead but there were not. I just saw two red lights in the sky,” the resident near the palace said on condition of anonymity.

“Everyone was looking out their windows to see if there was a plane, to see what was happening.”

The Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Video posted on social media shows what appears to be tracer bullets fired into the sky.

The video showed many security force members rushing to the palace after the shots.