Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was giving a speech about economic renewal, flanked by his wife and a handful of high officials, when explosions erupted in the sky.
By the government’s account, those explosions were a part of an attempted assassination by drone, which if true, would be the first instance of a such an attack targeting a head of state, writes The Atlantic. It is also a possible sign of things to come.
THREAD: what happened in Caracas this weekend?
This weekend President Maduro of Venezuela was giving a speech in Caracas, but he never finished it. 2 explosions were heard, Maduro was pulled off stage & the parade scattered.
(Hint: it was drones)
— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) August 7, 2018
And then this video came out, showing a drone exploding in mid-air. 5/8 pic.twitter.com/9Fcmw5CxIQ
— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) August 7, 2018
America started using military drones for surveillance and then missile strikes in Afghanistan nearly two decades ago, but only a handful of nations have those capabilities. However, small, commercially available drones of the kind Venezuela says were used in the attempt are easy to obtain, and can easily carry explosives.
This looks like an attempt to attack a parade by an actor using commercial drones armed with IEDs. This kind of event is going to get more prevalent as drones become cheaper and more widespread. I’m frankly surprised it took this long for such a high-profile attack to happen. 7/8
— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) August 7, 2018
Officials fear that risks like exploding drones are only going to get worse and that countries, including the United States, are unprepared to deal with it.
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