US secret intelligence operations in Venezuela anger Latin America

OUTRAGE has swept across Latin America after US President Donald ‘Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela.

-  Xinhua

Trump's confirmation last week came shortly after The New York Times reported the classified directive, saying the administration aims to remove the Venezuelan president from power, further straining Washington's ties with the region.

The unusual acknowledgement of the US spy agency's secret operations followed a string of US military strikes in recent weeks targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. The Pentagon has deployed eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and more than 6500 troops to the Caribbean in what the White House claims is aimed at cracking down on drug smuggling.

Since early September, at least five deadly strikes have targeted small vessels that Trump said “intelligence” confirmed were involved in narcotics trafficking, killing 27 people.

“Every boat that we knock out, we save 25000 American lives” Trump said at last week’s press conference. “We are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control.” Critics denounced the operations as “extrajudicial killings” that violated both US and international law, with the French daily Le Monde warning that the United States’ unilateral strikes, conducted without Congress's approval, “could amount to regime change in disguise.”