The continued mysteries surrounding the intelligence operation to capture Maduro

A week on from the dramatic raid that captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, details of the intelligence surrounding the operation are becoming clearer, but some mysteries still remain.

The intelligence

The mission took months of planning and intelligence gathering. In August the CIA is believed to have sent a team of undercover officers into Venezuela.

The US does not have a functioning embassy in the country, so the team could not use diplomatic cover and were working in what is known in the intelligence worlds as a denied area. They were on the ground to scout targets and recruit people who could help.

US officials have said they had one particular source who was able to provide detailed intelligence on Maduro's whereabouts which would have been critical to the operation. Identities of such sources are normally highly protected but it quickly emerged it was a government source who must have been particularly close to Maduro and in his inner circle in order to know where he was going to be, and when.

That has led to intense speculation about who it was and what has happened to them. But their identity is still not public. All of the human intelligence on the ground fed into a mosaic of intelligence to plan the operation in conjunction with technical intelligence like mapping and satellite imagery.

The mission

The scale, speed and success of the operation were unprecedented. This thing worked like clockwork. That doesn't happen often, explains David Fitzgerald, a former Latin America Chief of Operations for the CIA who also worked on planning missions with the US military.

Around 150 aircraft were involved in the mission, with helicopters flying only a hundred or so feet above the terrain to get to Maduro's compound.

There are still some mysteries though. One is exactly how the US turned off the lights in Caracas in order to enable the special forces to arrive. US President Donald Trump hinted at the role of cyber warfare, stating, The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have - it was dark and it was deadly. The US Cyber Command's public recognition for its role in the operation led to speculation that military hackers infiltrated Venezuelan networks to shut the grid down.

The battle

Those who have planned complex operations say it is remarkable that everything went according to plan, something that does not usually happen. One helicopter was hit but was still able to fly and no US forces were killed. The Cuban government claimed that 32 of its nationals, who were bodyguards for Maduro, were killed during the operation. Questions arise regarding whether some elements of the regime may have facilitated the mission.

The plan

The CIA undertook a classified assessment in advance of the operation, considering the implications of removing Maduro. Analysts suggested that working with elements of the existing regime would likely offer more stability than installing exiled opposition members, paving the way for potential cooperation with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.

The exact details of these back-channel contacts remain a mystery but likely played a significant role in the operation's success.