The New York Times, citing informed sources, reported that a person within the Venezuelan government was secretly cooperating with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was tracking the movements of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the hours and days leading up to his arrest by U.S. Special Operations forces.
The newspaper stated that this source identified Maduro’s location and provided the Americans with accurate intelligence that directly contributed to the execution of the arrest operation, in conjunction with the operation of a fleet of American stealth drones that provided near-constant surveillance of Venezuelan territory. It also noted that the agency relied on information provided by other Venezuelan agents working for it.
The New York Times explained that how this source within the Venezuelan government was recruited remains unclear, but former U.S. officials suggested that the $50 million reward offered by the U.S. government for information leading to Maduro’s arrest may have played a crucial role in attracting cooperation.
In a related context, the newspaper recalled that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had pledged, during his confirmation hearing last year, to lead a “more offensive” agency capable of carrying out covert operations to support intelligence gathering and enhance U.S. policy. It added that U.S. President Donald Trump gave the agency a mandate last fall to take more offensive actions, before approving in November the planning and preparation for a series of operations inside Venezuela.
In late December, the agency used an armed drone to carry out a strike targeting a marine pier that U.S. officials believed a Venezuelan gang was using to load drugs onto boats. The newspaper also quoted an insider in the Maduro arrest operation as saying that the operation was the result of a “deep partnership” between the agency and the U.S. military and was the result of “months of meticulous planning.”
According to The New York Times, a senior U.S. official said that CIA analysts and Special Operations forces possessed from early stages a high ability to locate Maduro with great precision. Despite the crucial role played by the CIA in planning and execution, the mission, according to the newspaper, was an operation carried out by U.S. Army Special Operations forces, not an operation under the agency’s direct authority.
In a similar context, Axios news platform, citing an informed source, reported that the CIA had a field team present inside Venezuela since last August, which contributed to facilitating the arrest operation. At dawn on Saturday, the Venezuelan capital witnessed a series of explosions, followed by Washington’s announcement of the arrest of the Venezuelan president, where Trump confirmed that the United States had carried out a wide-ranging strike against Venezuela and its leadership, and that Maduro and his wife were apprehended and airlifted out of the country in coordination with U.S. law enforcement agencies.
