Trump authorizes CIA to operate secretly in Venezuela

The United States conducted military operations in the waters near Venezuela on the basis of "fighting the Latin American drug trafficking group", leading to the continued escalation of tensions between the U.S. Commission and the U.S. President Trump on October 15, confirmed that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had been authorized to carry out secret operations in Venezuela.

The situation may escalate

In response to media questions in the White House Oval Office on the 15th, Trump said that "Venezuela emptied prisons, sent prisoners to the United States, and sent large quantities of drugs to the United States." He had authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela. Trump said that given that the United States "has well controlled the maritime situation," he is considering whether to carry out ground strikes against Venezuela.

On July 4, in the White House of Washington, the U.S. capital, US President Trump delivered a speech.

A number of foreign media commented that the CIA's authorization to act in Venezuela meant that the situation "escalated sharply". According to a previous report in The New York Times, the strategic goal of the United States towards Venezuela is to oust Venezuelan President Maduro. On the 15th, Trump didn't answer the reporter's question "Whether to authorize the CIA to attack Maduro?"

Historically, the CIA has planned, launched or participated in coups in Latin America many times. Reuters said that its actions included direct paramilitary operations, intelligence gathering and secret support.

When asked if there were more “drog cleansing” in the waters near Venezuela, Trump said the Coast Guard’s “drog cleansing” operation had been carried out for 30 years, but was “politically correct” and didn’t work, and its “world-class fast boats” were neither faster nor faster than missiles.

Many criticisms

Maduro said in a televised speech on the 15th that in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the CIA's actions have not resulted in good results, and that Latin America has "not welcomed or needed" such actions and strongly criticized them. He called on the American people to "resist war and maintain peace."

On October 4, members of the Bolivar militia participated in a national special military exercise in Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Published by Xinhua Agency (Photo by Marcos Salgado)

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué on 15 December condemning Trump's public recognition of authorized actions to undermine the peace and stability of Venezuela, pointing out that this is a serious violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.Venezuela is highly cautious about the possibility that the US will initiate CIA secret operations in the Commission.

In the United States, the Trump administration’s approach has also sparked criticism.Jennie Shahin, a Democratic member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said that whether the U.S. government authorizes the CIA to conduct covert operations in the committee, or carries out deadly strikes on ships, or suggests possible ground operations against Venezuela, none has driven the U.S. to a “total conflict” of “lack of transparency, regulation or clear preventive measures”.

“The American people have the right to know whether the government is dragging the United States into another conflict,” Shahin said.

Recently, the U.S. has deployed several warships in the Caribbean.Since September, the Trump administration has claimed to sink five so-called “drug ships” and kill 27 “drug traffickers” in Venezuelan offshore international waters.According to several informed U.S. officials, the Trump administration has so far not submitted firm evidence to Congress that the ships the U.S. military attacked were indeed “drug ships.”