US President Donald Trump has confirmed a report he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela – and said he was considering strikes targeting drug cartels there.
US forces have already conducted at least five strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. UN-appointed human rights experts have described the raids as “extrajudicial executions”.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the US “is looking at land” as it considers further strikes in the region.
Trump has sought to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, who the US and others do not recognise as Venezuela’s rightful leader following disputed elections.
The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack.
According to the New York Times, Trump’s authorisation would allow the CIA to carry out operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any wider US military activity.
It remains unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela, or whether those plans are being kept as contingencies.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was questioned about the New York Times report.
“Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?” a reporter asked.
“I authorised for two reasons really,” Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgement from a US commander-in-chief about a spy agency whose activities are typically shrouded in secrecy.
“Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”
He added: “And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also.”
Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in the region’s drug trade. The president would not be drawn on whether the CIA’s goal was to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.
“Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” he said.
In the most recent US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near Venezuela’s coast.
On Truth Social, Trump said that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known” drug-trafficking corridor.
As has been the case in previous strikes, US officials have not specified what drug-trafficking organisation was allegedly operating the vessel, or the identities of those aboard.
Maduro responded by ordering military exercises in the Caracas suburb of Petare and in neighbouring Miranda state on Wednesday.
In a message on Telegram, he said that he was mobilising the military, police and civilian militia to defend Venezuela and “win at peace”.
The Socialist leader has accused the US of plotting regime change following accusations that he rigged the South American nation’s presidential election last year.
Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez also struck a defiant tone on television on Wednesday.
He said “let no aggressor dare because they know that here is the people of [Venezuelan liberator Simón] Bolívar, that here is the people of our ancestors with their swords raised to defend us under any circumstance”.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the US of scheming to “rob” the oil-rich country “of its immense natural resources”, AFP news agency reported.
Trump has deployed eight warships, a nuclear-power submarine and fighter jets to the Caribbean in what the White House says is an effort to crack down on drug smuggling.
In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the administration said it had determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organisations.
US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of an organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which it says includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.
(With additional reporting from Ione Wells)
