The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the United States began strikes in September marks a significant escalation in the government’s months-long pressure campaign on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The strike has not been recognized by Venezuelan officials.
US President Donald Trump first referred to the operation on Friday in an interview with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio in New York, saying the US had taken out some sort of “major facility where ships come from.”
Speaking to reporters Monday as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump added that the operation targeted a “dock area where they load the boats with drugs.” But the president declined to comment on whether the attack was carried out by the military or the CIA.
CIA and White House officials also declined to comment further on the matter. Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesman for Special Operations Command, which oversees U.S. operations in the Caribbean, said in a statement that “Special Operations did not support this operation nor did it contain intelligence.”
Receive the latest national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.
The attack escalates what began as a massive build-up of U.S. personnel in the Caribbean Sea beginning in August, followed by at least 30 U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More recently, Trump ordered a quasi-blockade aimed at seizing sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
CNN first reported the CIA’s involvement in the operation.
Trump had threatened for months that he would soon order attacks on targets on Venezuelan territory. He has also taken the unusual step of publicly acknowledging that he authorized the CIA to carry out covert actions in Venezuela.
The administration is required to report covert CIA actions to senior congressional officials, including the chairman and senior members of the intelligence committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives. But by entrusting the apparent first land attack of the Venezuelan campaign to intelligence, Trump could calculate that the action would receive less attention from lawmakers than a military strike.
“I actually gave permission for two reasons. First, they emptied their prisons in the United States of America,” he said in October as he confirmed to reporters his approval of the CIA action. “And then there are the drugs. There are a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs are coming in through the sea.”
Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly said Maduro’s days in power are numbered. The Venezuelan leader and members of his inner circle have been under federal indictment in the United States since 2020 on narcoterrorism and other charges.
Maduro has denied the allegations. The U.S. Department of Justice this year doubled the reward for information leading to his arrest to $50 million.
The Venezuelan president made no mention of the CIA operation during an hour-long speech at an international leadership school for women on Tuesday.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
#CIA #attack #Venezuelan #port #suspected #linked #drug #cartels #National #Globalnews.ca