WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told a Reuters reporter at a press conference Wednesday that he has authorized the CIA’s actions in Venezuela.
The New York Times had reported earlier on Wednesday that Trump had given such authorization, citing unnamed sources.
Trump cited two reasons for the decision: he said a large amount of drugs would be coming to the United States from Venezuela and that the country would release many prisoners and send them to the U.S. He did not explain either claim, including through which border the released prisoners would enter the United States.
“Now that we have such good control of the sea, certainly land is being looked at,” Trump said, referring to what he described as six previous attacks on ships in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump said he was considering having the CIA conduct attacks on drug cartels in Venezuela’s interior. “I think Venezuela is starting to get hot under the collar,” he said.
According to the Venezuelan government, Trump’s decision is a violation of international law. President Nicolás Maduro called it an attempt to legitimize “regime change.”
“No to war in the Caribbean, no to regime change, no to coups orchestrated by the CIA,” Maduro said.
Earlier, Trump accused Maduro of complicity with drug cartels and smuggling into the U.S. Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen sharply in recent weeks.
Trump declined on Wednesday to comment on whether the CIA had also been authorized to attempt an assassination of Maduro.
U.S. officials and the president have focused on drug smuggling by sea from Venezuela. Since early September, U.S. military forces have carried out attacks on five boats in the Caribbean Sea, and at least 27 people have been killed, according to U.S. accounts cited by officials.
The attacks at sea have been controversial because they occurred in international waters and because people on the boats were not first arrested or questioned, critics say. The U.S. government has designated several drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” in an effort to justify the use of deadly force.
The United States has increased its military presence in the region. A dozen F-35s and about 10,000 military personnel are stationed in nearby Puerto Rico, and several Navy ships are operating in the Caribbean Sea.
