The US president says he intends to expand his crackdown on drug cartels
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he has authorized CIA operations on Venezuelan soil.
The New York Times reported earlier that the decision would allow intelligence operatives to carry out lethal operations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose government Trump has accused of running "narco-terrorist" cartels and flooding the US with cocaine and fentanyl.
A reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office, "Why did you authorize the CIA to go into Venezuela?"
"I authorized for two reasons, really," Trump replied. "Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America."
"And the other thing is the drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also," he added.
Trump declined to clarify whether the CIA is authorized to "take out Maduro."
"I don't want to answer a question like that. Wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?" he said.
Trump imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela during his first term and has recently raised the bounty for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million. The US deployed a naval armada to the eastern Caribbean, and since September has destroyed at least five boats allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela.
Maduro has denied the allegations of aiding cartels and accused the US of seeking to topple him, adding that the military is ready to repel a potential invasion.
(RT.com)
