US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he had authorized covert CIA action against Venezuela and was considering strikes against alleged drug cartels on land in the South American country.
Trump’s comments prompted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to decry “coups d’etat orchestrated by the CIA” and ordered military exercises following a fresh US strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.
Under Maduro’s direction, exercises have been conducted across the Atlantic Caribbean coast of Venezuela.
Photo: EPA
Trump declined to comment in detail about a New York Times report that he had secretly approved the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela against Maduro.
“But I authorized for two reasons really,” he said, accusing Maduro of leading a “narco-terrorist” regime, and of releasing prisoners from jails and sending them to the US.
Asked if he had given the CIA authority to “take out” Maduro, Trump replied: “That’s a ridiculous question for me to be given. Not really a ridiculous question, but wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?”
Trump added that he was weighing up whether to expand US military actions against alleged Venezuelan drug cartels to the land after a series of deadly naval strikes on boats.
“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump told reporters at the White House in Washington.
At least 27 people have been killed in US attacks on boats in the Caribbean.
Trinidad and Tobago, which is off Venezuela, is investigating whether two of those killed were its citizens, officials said on Wednesday.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called on the UN to open a “criminal process” against Trump for the strikes, which he believes have also killed Colombians.
Trump’s comments came amid a major US naval buildup in the Caribbean that Washington says is part of an anti-drug operation.
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