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WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to pressure the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The New York Times first reported on the classified directive, citing US officials familiar with the decision, saying the Trump administration’s strategy in Venezuela aims to remove Maduro from power. The government has offered $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges.

The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a variety of operations in the Caribbean, the Times reported.

When asked why he authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela, Trump told reporters his reasons were the migration of Venezuelans to the United States and drug trafficking.

“I authorized it really for two reasons,” Trump said. “First of all, they have emptied their prisons in the United States of America… they came in over the border. They came in because we had an open border,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “And the other thing is drugs,” Trump said.

Trump has not provided evidence for his claim that Venezuela is sending expresses to the US.

He added that the United States has made progress in interdicting drug shipments at sea and that additional efforts are now focusing on land routes.

“Now we’re looking at land, because we have the sea very much under control,” Trump said.

Reuters could not independently determine what specific actions Trump has authorized and the White House declined to elaborate on the president’s comments.

Historically, agency participation in such operations has varied widely from direct paramilitary engagement to intelligence gathering and support functions with little or no physical footprint.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

The CIA has a long history of operations in Latin America, particularly during the Cold War, and helped bring down South America’s cocaine trafficking empires in the late 20th century. Reuters has reported that the CIA has been conducting covert operations in Mexico for years to track down the country’s most wanted drug traffickers.

Venezuela’s government said Trump’s comments constituted a violation of international law and said the United States’ actions were intended to legitimize a “regime change” operation aimed at seizing the country’s oil resources.

“Our Permanent Mission to the UN will raise this complaint tomorrow before the Security Council and the Secretary General, demanding accountability from the United States government,” Venezuela said in a statement released by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on his Telegram account.

TRUMP: VENEZUELA ‘FEELS HEAT’

Trump has repeatedly accused Venezuela of being a hub for trafficking the deadly drug fentanyl, but U.S. records have shown that Mexico is the main source of fentanyl.

A reporter asked Trump why he didn’t have the Coast Guard stop ships suspected of drug trafficking, which has been American practice for decades. Trump called those efforts “politically correct” and said they had not worked.

Trump declined to answer when asked if the CIA has the authority to execute Maduro, saying, “I think Venezuela is feeling the pressure.”

Trump has ordered a large U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, and troops have carried out at least five attacks on vessels the Trump administration has described as involved in drug trafficking, without providing evidence.

The campaign is the latest example of Trump’s efforts to use U.S. military power in new, and often legally controversial, ways, from deploying active-duty U.S. troops in Los Angeles to conducting counterterrorism strikes against drug suspects.

The Pentagon recently revealed to Congress that Trump has determined that the United States is engaged in “a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.

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TRUMP: VENEZUELA RELEASED PRISONERS IN US

Trump also accused Venezuela of releasing large numbers of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the United States, although he did not specify which border they crossed.

Neither Maduro’s Information Ministry nor press representatives for opposition leader María Corina Machado immediately responded to requests for comment on Trump’s comments.

The Trump administration has provided little information about the attacks, frustrating members of Congress, including some of their Republican colleagues.

On Wednesday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration moved the United States closer to open conflict.

“The American people deserve to know whether the Administration is leading the United States into another conflict, putting service members at risk, or carrying out a regime change operation,” he said in a statement. (Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Reuters Caracas bureau; writing by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Mark Porter, Rod Nickel and Diane Craft)