Trump confirms he authorised CIA action inside Venezuela
President Donald Trump confirmed reports that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and said he was considering carrying out strikes against drug cartels there.
US forces have already carried out at least five strikes against boats suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. UN-appointed human rights experts have called the raids “extrajudicial executions.”
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the United States was “considering ground strikes” as it considered further strikes in the region.
Trump has sought to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States and others do not recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate leader following a disputed election.
The increased American military presence in the region has Caracas fearing a possible attack.
According to the New York Times, Trump’s authorization would allow the CIA to conduct operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any broader U.S. military activity.
It remains unclear whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela or whether those plans are being kept in case of an emergency.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was asked about the New York Times report.
“Actually, I authorized it for two reasons,” he said in a highly unusual acknowledgment from a U.S. commander in chief of a spy agency whose activities are generally shrouded in secrecy.
“Number one, they [Venezuela] emptied their prisons to the United States of America. »
He added: “And the other thing is drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming from Venezuela, and a lot of Venezuelan drugs are coming by sea, so you can see that, but we’re going to stop them by land as well.”
The president refused to answer when asked whether clearance from the CIA would allow the agency to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.
“Wouldn’t that be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” he said.
Although Maduro’s government has not commented directly on the CIA authorization, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez struck a defiant tone on television.
He said “no aggressor dares, because they know that here are the people of [Venezuelan liberator Simón] Bolívar, here are the people of our ancestors with their swords raised to defend us in all circumstances.”
In the latest US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near the coast of Venezuela.
On Truth Social, Trump said that “intelligence confirmed that the vessel was trafficking narcotics, associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and transiting along a” known drug trafficking corridor.
As has been the case in previous strikes, U.S. officials have not said which drug trafficking organization they believe was operating the ship, or who the people on board were.
The strikes are part of a broader military effort to pressure Maduro’s government, which includes the deployment of significant air and naval assets to the region as well as the deployment of around 4,000 troops.
In a recently leaked memo sent to US lawmakers and reported by US media, the administration said it had determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug trafficking organizations.
U.S. officials have claimed that Maduro himself was part of an organization called the Cartel of the Suns, which is believed to include senior Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking.
Maduro has repeatedly denied the allegations and the Venezuelan government has condemned the strikes.
(With additional reporting from Ione Wells)
