By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
The New York Times first reported the classified directive, citing U.S. 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.
Trump said he authorized the action because large amounts of drugs were entering the United States from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump said.
TRUMP: VENEZUELA ‘FEELING HEAT’
He has repeatedly accused Venezuela of being a hub for trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl, but U.S. records have shown that Mexico is the main source of fentanyl.
Trump was asked by a reporter why he did not have the Coast Guard stop suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been U.S. practice for decades. Trump called such efforts “politically correct” and said they had not worked.
Trump declined to answer when asked if the CIA has the authority to execute Maduro, saying, “I think Venezuela is feeling heat.”
Trump has ordered a large U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, and the troops have conducted at least five strikes on vessels the Trump administration has described as involved in drug trafficking, without providing evidence.
The campaign is the most recent example of Trump’s efforts to use U.S. military power in new, and often legally contentious, ways, from deploying active-duty U.S. troops in Los Angeles to carrying out counterterrorism strikes against drug trafficking suspects.
The Pentagon recently disclosed to Congress that Trump has determined the United States is engaged in “a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
TRUMP: VENEZUELA RELEASED PRISONERS INTO U.S.
Trump also accused Venezuela of releasing large numbers of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the United States, although he did not specify which border they were crossing.
Neither Maduro’s Information Ministry nor press representatives for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado immediately responded to requests for comment on Trump’s remarks.
The Trump administration has provided scant information about the strikes, frustrating members of Congress, including some of his fellow Republicans.
On Wednesday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration moved the U.S. closer to outright conflict.
“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,” she said in a statement.
(Reporting By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Reuters Caracas bureau; Writing by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Mark Porter and Rod Nickel)
