US President Donald Trump has confirmed a report that he authorized the CIA to carry out 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 at the White House, Trump said the United States was “looking for land” 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 these plans are being kept in case of emergency.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was asked about the New York Times report.
“Why did you allow the CIA into Venezuela?” » asked a journalist.
“I actually authorized it for two reasons,” Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgment from a U.S. commander in chief about 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.
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. authorities have not said which drug trafficking organization was allegedly operating the ship, or the identities of the people on board.
Maduro responded by ordering military exercises on Wednesday in the Caracas suburb of Petare and in the neighboring state of Miranda.
In a message on Telegram, he said he was mobilizing the army, police and civilian militias to defend Venezuela and “win in peace.”
The socialist leader accused the United States of plotting regime change following accusations it rigged last year’s South American presidential election.
Venezuela’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, also struck a defiant tone on television Wednesday.
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.”
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has accused the United States of plotting to “steal” the oil-rich country’s “immense natural resources”, the AFP news agency reported.
Trump has deployed eight warships, a nuclear submarine and fighter jets to the Caribbean in what the White House sees as an effort to crack down on drug trafficking.
In a recently leaked memo sent to US lawmakers, 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 denied these claims.
(With additional reporting from Ione Wells)
