Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. (WDEF) – Continuing our coverage of the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, News 12’s Lillian Yi spoke with former FBI undercover operative Eric O’Neill about the intelligence and planning behind the operation known as Operation Absolute Resolve.
O’Neill, the author of Spies Lies and Cyber Crime, emphasized just how fragile the mission was from the start and how easily it could have unraveled.
“If it got out, if there had been a leak, then the whole thing could have fallen apart,” O’Neill said. “It was balanced on a pin head.”
According to O’Neill, the operation unfolded through carefully structured phases built on months of intelligence work across multiple agencies.
He said the mission began with efforts to disrupt funding streams tied to the Maduro regime.
“There was an operational event design that started in two phases,” O’Neill said. “Phase one was the interdiction of narco-trafficking vessels, and phase two involved U.S. special operations forces escorting the FBI so law enforcement could serve a warrant and arrest Maduro.”
O’Neill explained that those early interdictions were designed to weaken the regime financially while intelligence agencies quietly shifted their focus to Maduro himself.
That included what he described as an intensive pattern of life analysis.
“You map the daily routine of your target, where they go, who they meet, their security habits,” O’Neill said. “Allegedly, they identified at least one trusted insider within the Venezuelan government who could relay Maduro’s real time location.”
That intelligence, he said, was reinforced through drone surveillance and other classified methods, allowing officials to confirm Maduro’s movements and determine the narrow window when he could be safely apprehended.
“And that was critical,” O’Neill said. “Without knowing his movements, you wouldn’t know when to strike.”
To eliminate uncertainty during the arrest, O’Neill said U.S. special operations forces constructed a full-scale replica of Maduro’s safe house, allowing teams to rehearse every step of the mission.
“They practice it over and over so when they go in, it doesn’t feel foreign,” he said. “They know it as well as the person who lives there.”
The arrest itself coincided with a widespread blackout across Caracas, which O’Neill believes was intentional and part of the broader operational design.
“We turned the lights off,” he said. “I suspect there was a large-scale cyber-attack on critical infrastructure so helicopters could move in safely.”
O’Neill said the blackout, combined with the ability to fly aircraft into Venezuelan airspace without resistance, highlighted the depth of U.S. intelligence capabilities.
“That shows China, Russia, Iran, even North Korea that we can do it too,” he said. “That kind of capability can have a chilling deterrence effect, especially when it comes to future cyber conflict.”
He added that the operation also reflects long standing U.S. scrutiny of Venezuela’s ties to organized crime and foreign powers seeking influence in the Western Hemisphere.
“From a national security standpoint, this was about preventing adversarial powers from gaining a stronger foothold in the region,” O’Neill said.
As for what comes next, O’Neill said the focus now shifts away from the operation itself and toward long-term stability inside Venezuela.
“The most important question is how Venezuela becomes stabilized,” he said. “We have to make sure this does not turn into an insurgency or something that looks like a new Iraq.”
He said legitimate elections and international oversight will be essential to avoid further unrest.
“What needs to happen is fair elections where the people vote for someone who can actually take power,” O’Neill said. “If Venezuela can return to democracy and people can return home, that is a net benefit.”
O’Neill also defended the secrecy surrounding the mission, saying any premature disclosure could have placed intelligence officers and sources in serious danger.
“The more people who know a secret, the more likely it is to get out,” he said. “In intelligence operations, you keep that circle as small as possible.”
In the end, O’Neill said Operation Absolute Resolve will likely be remembered not for its visibility, but for the intelligence discipline behind it.
“This was won by espionage,” he said. “Quiet, precise, and incredibly effective.”
As international attention now turns to Venezuela’s future, O’Neill said the true impact of the operation will be measured not by the arrest itself, but by whether the country is able to move toward stability and democratic governance in the months ahead.
