Elena Bertis, 78, was sleeping in her bedroom in Caracas early Saturday morning when she was woken up by a sudden noise. At first I thought it was an earthquake, she told CNN.
“So I stood up, put on my shoes and started getting dressed,” Bertis told CNN’s Osmary Hernández during a visit to the La Boera neighborhood on Sunday.
At that moment, Bertis heard the sound of a plane passing by. “Oh, what anxiety, what terrible anxiety,” she said.
She then saw her home of the past 50 years hit by shrapnel during a U.S. military offensive launched to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
She said parts of the building were destroyed, with damage including shattered windows and crystal panels and holes in walls and ceilings.
Bertis’ daughter, Patricia Salazar, told CNN that she had expected some kind of military action from the United States, but she didn’t expect it to be so close.
“I was sure something was going to happen, but I thought it was time to celebrate. I thought it was time to celebrate and not suffer like this,” Salazar said.
“You wouldn’t expect something like this to happen in your home, in your mother’s home, where you want her to be safe and peaceful. She’s 78 years old and unfortunately, the last thing we want for her is to go through something like this. The last thing we want is for our elders to have to go through a bad time like this.”
Other Venezuelans also found their homes reduced to rubble in the attack. Watch a video of one family’s home here.
Venezuelans left homeless by US airstrikes
The U.S. attack in Venezuela destroyed homes, left neighborhoods without electricity, and caused destruction in the aftermath.
