WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration is planning to establish a permanent CIA presence inside Venezuela following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, CNN reported on Tuesday.
While the State Department will serve as the primary diplomatic presence in the country, the Trump administration will likely lean heavily on the CIA to initiate the re-entry process due to the political and security situation in Venezuela, said the report, quoting sources familiar with the process.
"State plants the flag but CIA is really the influence," one source was quoted as saying.
In the short term, U.S. officials may operate out of a CIA annex, prior to the opening of an official embassy, allowing them to start making informal contact with members of different factions in the oil-rich nation and target third parties who may be threats, the source said.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the first senior U.S. official to visit Venezuela after Maduro's capture, met with interim President Delcy Rodriguez and military leaders earlier this month. During the visit, Ratcliffe reportedly warned that Venezuela could no longer serve as a "safe haven" for U.S. adversaries.
It's widely reported that CIA agents were deeply involved in the raid targeting Maduro, with agency personnel deployed inside Venezuela months in advance to track his movements. The CIA's intelligence assessments also helped shape U.S. policy decisions regarding Venezuela's post-Maduro leadership.
Despite the expanding intelligence role, sources told CNN that U.S. officials are still awaiting clearer guidance from the White House on how they would "run" Venezuela following Maduro's capture. ■