Apart from the protesters, there were few Venezuelans out and about, and just an occasional car on the usually bustling streets.
Those who did venture out did so under the watchful eye of black-clad agents patrolling the centre with long guns.
Many stores were shuttered in the hours after the attack, while queues formed at others that were letting people in a few at a time.
Damage from the explosions was mostly limited to military installations, where vehicles stood riddled with bullet impacts, others smouldering and charred.
Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the US forces of attacking residential areas of the civilian population with missiles and rockets fired from combat helicopters.
Trump said no American soldier had died in Saturday’s strikes, but the toll on the Venezuelan side is still unknown.
For residents of Caracas, the future is uncertain.
Trump said Saturday he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” and mooted the possibility of a “much bigger” second wave of strikes if necessary.
He also said the United States will “run” Venezuela until a political transition occurs.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado insists Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, whom the opposition says won elections in July 2024 in which Maduro claimed victory, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate” as president.
Trump scotched any expectation that Machado herself should emerge as Venezuela’s new leader. She doesn’t have “support or respect” there, he said.
Trump indicated he could instead work with Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Source: CNA
