US planning CIA foothold in post-Maduro Venezuela: Report

The United States is working to establish a permanent CIA presence in Venezuela after ousting former President Nicolas Maduro, CNN reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter.

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While the State Department will serve as the primary long-term US diplomatic presence in the country, the Trump administration will likely lean heavily on the CIA to initiate the re-entry process due to the current political transition and unstable security situation, the report added.

“State plants the flag but CIA is really the influence,” one source familiar with the planning process told CNN.

The report also added that “US officials may operate out of a CIA annex, prior to the opening of an official embassy.”

This would allow them to start making informal contact with members of different factions of Venezuela’s government as well as opposition figures and target third parties who may be threats, the source said.

“Setting up an annex is priority number one. Before diplomatic channels the annex can help set up liaison channels, that will be with the Venezuelan intelligence and that will allow conversations that diplomats cannot have,” said a former US government official who engaged with the Venezuelans.

With Reuters

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