US President Donald Trump's administration has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela as part of its stepped-up campaign against President of the Republic Nicolas Maduro. About this write columnist Julian E. Barnes, writing for The New York Times.
The author of the article clarifies that the new powers will allow the CIA to conduct use of force operations in Venezuela and some actions in the Caribbean.
According to him, officials issued these licenses as part of the Trump administration's intensified campaign to put pressure on Venezuela. He added that the ultimate goal is to remove Maduro from power.
At the same time, the observer explained, it is not yet known whether the CIA plans any operations in Venezuela or whether a covert action is authorized, but is considered a backup plan.
Barnes recounts that in 1954, the CIA staged a coup that overthrew Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz, leading to decades of unrest.
The agency also had a hand in the 1964 coup in Brazil, the death of Che Guevara and other plots in Bolivia, the 1973 coup in Chile and the Contra war against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s, the observer noted.
