United States President Donald Trump has confirmed he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in US efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro's government.
The New York Times first reported the classified directive, citing US officials familiar with the decision, saying the Trump administration's Venezuela strategy aims to remove Maduro from power.
The administration has offered US$50 million (nearly $77 million) for information leading to Maduro's arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges.
Trump said he authorised the action because large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.
"We are looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control," Trump said.
Trump calls efforts 'politically correct'
Trump has repeatedly accused Venezuela of being a hub for the trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl, but US records have shown Mexico is the main source of fentanyl.
Trump was questioned by a reporter why he did not have the coast guard stop suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been the US practice for decades. Trump called such efforts "politically correct" and said they had not worked.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has alleged Donald Trump is trying to drive him from power. Source: AAP / Miguel Gutierrez/EPA
Contentious use of military power
Trump has ordered a large US military buildup in the southern Caribbean, and the troops have conducted at least five strikes on vessels the Trump administration has described as involved in drug trafficking, without providing evidence.
The campaign is the most recent example of Trump's efforts to use US military power in new, and often legally contentious, ways, from deploying active-duty US troops in Los Angeles to carrying out counterterrorism strikes against drug trafficking suspects.
The Pentagon recently disclosed to Congress that Trump has determined the US is engaged in "a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels.
Trump accused of moving US into another conflict
Trump also accused Venezuela of releasing large numbers of prisoners, including persons from mental health facilities, into the US, although he did not specify which border they were crossing.
Neither Maduro's information ministry nor press representatives for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado immediately responded to requests for comment on Trump's remarks.
The Trump administration has provided scant information about the strikes, frustrating members of Congress, including some of his fellow Republicans.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the senate foreign relations committee, said the administration moved the US closer to outright conflict.
"The American people deserve to know if the administration is leading the US into another conflict, putting service members at risk or pursuing a regime-change operation."
