Trump Authorizes CIA Operations in Venezuela

President Trump on Wednesday appeared to confirm he authorized the CIA to carry out operations in Venezuela, an escalation into his administration’s targeting of authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

Trump was asked by a reporter in the Oval Office why he authorized the CIA to be able to strike inside Venezuela, to which Trump appeared to confirm the authorization and added that he was looking to expand to “land” strikes.

“I authorized for two reasons really, number one they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America, they came in through the border,” Trump said, repeating a criticism of illegal immigration.

“A lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of drugs come in through the sea, but we’re going to stop them by land also.”

Trump’s comments follow reporting from The New York Times and CNN that the president authorized the CIA to expand covert operations inside Venezuela, raising the prospect of action against Maduro.

Trump refused to answer a question about whether the CIA has authority to take out Maduro, but he indicated the action is meant to increase pressure on Caracas.

“I think Venezuela is feeling heat. … We’re not going to let our country be ruined because other people want to drop, as you say, their worst … we’re not going to take them,” Trump said.

“It’s one of those things, I can tell you, we’ve taken care of the sea. There’s nobody — and we’re watching and if we see it, we’ll save it.”

The U.S. has increased its military presence in the Caribbean Sea recently and carried out at least five strikes against what the administration alleges were speed boats smuggling drugs, killing approximately 27 people.

Trump earlier transmitted a notice to Congress that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Democrats, critical of the administration’s reasoning, failed to pass a War Powers Resolution that would block the use of military force.

Trump’s top aides are reportedly pushing for the U.S. to take action for regime change in Venezuela, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, increased a reward for justice to $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction.

In March 2020, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has jurisdiction over intervention abroad and declarations of war, warned against the president dragging the U.S. into open-ended conflict.

“I support cracking down on the cartels and traffickers. But the Trump Administration’s authorization of covert C.I.A. action, conducting lethal strikes on boats and hinting at land operations in Venezuela slides the United States closer to outright conflict with no transparency, oversight or apparent guardrails,” she said in a statement.

“The American people deserve to know if the Administration is leading the U.S. into another conflict, putting servicemembers at risk or pursuing a regime-change operation.”