President Trump has given the CIA authorization to plan for covert operations inside Venezuela, the New York Times reports based on “multiple” unidentified “people briefed on the matter.”
The president has not settled on a strategy, but the nod to the CIA appears to anticipate neutralizing key elements of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, in preparation for U.S. attacks on Venezuelan territory, including possible ground operations.
After a build-up over the past three months, there are now approximately 15,000 U.S. troops in the region. The deployment, called Operation Southern Spear, now includes the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford carrier group — which has added 5,000 of those forces, in addition to 75 attack, surveillance, and support aircraft, including F/A-18 fighters.
The Times reports that the administration has reopened a backchannel for diplomatic communications with Maduro. This is designed to encourage him to step aside voluntarily and leave the country. So far, although he has tried to sell settlements in which he would supposedly leave after a two-to-three-year transition phase, Maduro has been unwilling to abdicate — and the administration is unwilling to discuss any peaceful resolution in which he would remain in power.
As we’ve discussed extensively, since September 2, the armada the U.S. has deployed to the region has been conducting a drone-strike campaign against cartels suspected of shipping illegal narcotics. There have now been 21 attacks, which are believed to have killed at least 83 people. The president has not sought, and has said he will not seek, congressional authorization for the use of military force — notwithstanding that there has been no threat of military attack against the U.S.
The Times’ sources say that Trump has not made a decision about the endgame in Venezuela, content for now to continue ratcheting up pressure. It is difficult to imagine that a deployment of this size, which pulls finite U.S. military resources from other global hot spots where they are needed, can go on interminably. The arrival of the Ford group and the directive to the CIA suggest that a decision on taking Maduro out if he will not go voluntarily is imminent.