On the 15th, U.S. President Trump stated that he has authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct secret operations in Venezuela.
While answering questions from the media at the White House, he said that the Venezuelan government is "releasing a large number of prisoners and mental hospital patients" to the United States, and is sending "large amounts of drugs" to the U.S.
He pointed out that the Pentagon is considering conducting a land strike against Venezuela, and said, "We already have good control over the sea routes."
The New York Times reported on the same day that this authorization would allow the CIA to conduct "lethal operations" in Venezuela and the Caribbean region, as well as to cooperate with larger-scale U.S. military operations.
Recently, the United States has deployed several warships in the Caribbean Sea. Since September, the Trump administration has claimed to have sunk five so-called "drug trafficking vessels" in international waters off Venezuela, and killed 27 "drug traffickers."
However, recent reports from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) show that Venezuela is not the main source of drugs flowing into the United States.
Maduro: How many coups do you still want to stage?
On the 15th, Venezuelan President Maduro stated that Venezuela resists coups planned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, saying that such behavior is "not welcome and not needed" in Latin America, and strongly condemned these actions.
Maduro made these remarks during an event broadcast on Venezuelan national television.
On the 15th, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Gil issued a government communiqué on social media, accusing Trump's authorization for CIA secret actions in Venezuela of violating international law.
The communiqué pointed out that Trump’s open admission of authorizing actions that harm Venezuela’s peace and stability is a serious violation of international law and the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter, and that the international community should strongly condemn it. The Venezuelan side is highly vigilant regarding possible secret actions by the CIA in the country. Recently, the deployment of U.S. troops in the Caribbean Sea is clearly an attempt to subvert the Venezuelan government and seize Venezuela's oil resources.
Maduro has repeatedly accused the United States of attempting to achieve regime change in Venezuela through military threats, and of pursuing military expansion in Latin America. Historically, the U.S. CIA has repeatedly planned, launched, or participated in coups in Latin America.