| By AP News Photos: YouTube Screenshots President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said he was weighing carrying out land operations on the country. Read more. |
| Why this matters: The acknowledgement of covert action in Venezuela by the U.S. spy agency comes after the U.S. military in recent weeks has carried out a series of deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. U.S. forces have destroyed at least five boats since early September, killing 27 people. Four of the vessels originated from Venezuela. Asked during an Oval Office event Wednesday why he authorized the CIA to take action in Venezuela, Trump affirmed he had made the move. “I authorized for two reasons, really,” Trump replied. “No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. And the other thing, the drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.” Trump declined to say whether the CIA has authority to take action against Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan president on Wednesday lashed out at the agency’s record in various world conflicts without directly addressing Trump’s comments about authorizing the covert operations in Venezuela. “How long will the CIA continue to carry on with its coups? Latin America doesn’t want them, doesn’t need them and repudiates them,” Maduro said. |
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