WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration has given the CIA authority to conduct lethal operations in Venezuela, as well as more operations in the Caribbean, according to a report from The New York Times.
Officials said in private conversations that the goal is to get Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power, sources told the newspaper.
Under the new CIA authority, the agency could take action against Maduro in a unilateral manner or with a military operation.
As of now, it isn’t known if the CIA is currently planning any upcoming operations in Venezuela.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that six “narcoterrorists” were killed in a boat strike off the coast of Venezuela.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said that intelligence confirmed that the vessel was trafficking narcotics.
This strike is the fifth attack in the Caribbean as the Trump administration targets drug traffickers with military force.
The White House said earlier this month in a statement that the fourth vessel hit was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25,000 to 50,000 people.”
