As the Ford carrier strike group arrives in the Caribbean to counter drug trafficking from Venezuela, President Trump has reportedly approved CIA covert operations in the country, according to the New York Times.
According to people briefed on the matter, the CIA operations could lay the groundwork for further military action against Venezuela. As of November, there have been at least 20 military strikes on narco-terrorist vessels out of Venezuela, headed to the United States, resulting in the death of at least 79 people.
The president has also authorized a new round of negotiations with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. Earlier talks saw Maduro offer to step down after a delay of a few years, a proposal the White House rejected.
The report came just a day after President Trump called Maduro a terrorist, and didn't shut down the possibility of deploying troops to Venezuela.
"No, I don't rule out that, I don't rule out anything," Trump said.
A controversial Russian general is now in Venezuela leading a rotational advisory mission, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) told The War Zone. Colonel General Oleg Leontievich Makarevich commands the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Equator Task Force (ETF), Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said.
Questions to Budanov were prompted in part by a story in Intelligence Online claiming that an elite Russian drone unit has arrived in Venezuela to teach troops there how to use first-person view (FPV) drones.
The Russians are serving as “military advisors and also teachers,” Budanov explained. “In general, it’s infantry, UAV and special forces training.”
Among other things, ETF is also providing Venezuela with signals intelligence, Budanov added.
The deployment of Russian troops to Venezuela is a long-standing rotation that has existed for years, Budanov noted.