Trump authorizes CIA operations in Venezuela, raising pressure on Maduro

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump confirmed that he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in US efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

The New York Times first reported the classified directive, citing US officials familiar with the decision, saying the Trump administration’s Venezuela strategy aims to remove Maduro from power. The administration has offered $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges.

The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean, the Times reported.

Asked why he authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela, Trump told reporters his reasons were migration of Venezuelans to the United States and drug trafficking.

“I authorized for two reasons really,” Trump said. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America…they came in through the border. They came in because we had an open border,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “And the other thing are drugs,” Trump said.

Trump has not provided evidence for his claim that Venezuela is sending former prisoners to the US.

He added that the US has made progress intercepting drug shipments at sea, and that additional efforts are now focused on overland routes.

“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump said. Reuters could not independently determine what specific actions Trump has authorized and the White House declined to elaborate on the president’s comments.

Historically, the agency’s involvement in such operations has varied widely from direct paramilitary engagement to intelligence gathering and support roles with little to no physical footprint.

The CIA has a long history of operations in Latin America, particularly during the Cold War, and helped topple South America’s cocaine trafficking empires at the end of the 20th century. Reuters has reported that the CIA has been running covert operations in Mexico for years to track down the country’s most-wanted drug traffickers.

Venezuela’s government said Trump’s remarks constituted a violation of international law and said US actions were aimed at legitimizing a “regime change” operation with the goal of seizing the country’s oil resources.

“Our Permanent Mission to the UN will raise this complaint with the Security Council and the Secretary-General tomorrow, demanding accountability from the United States government,” Venezuela said in a statement released by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on his Telegram account.