CIA non-diplomatic operation to remove Trump's Maduro, Lee Jae-myeong 'helps with Trump's conversation'
With the surprise arrest of President Maduro Vesesuela as a result of a CIA operation, the strategy of eliminating intelligence operations against presidents of non-diplomatic countries emerged again.
At the New Year's press conference on the 21st, President Lee Jae-myung said, "A style like President Trump's seems to be helpful in dialogue with Chairman Kim Jong-un. So, let's pave the way, and I will play the role of pacemaker." He also said about the won exchange rate, "I predict that it will fall to around 1,400 in a month or two.
In arresting Maduro, the New York Times reported on the 20th, citing officials who were formally briefed on the operation, that a secret CIA team conducted a sabotage operation in Venezuela and helped a U.S. military strike force safely capture Nicolas earlier this month.
Officials say the clandestine operatives' activities are a sign of close cooperation between the CIA's intelligence community and the U.S. military, and U.S. officials argue that the CIA's more aggressive stance and focus on Latin America is paying off.
NYT said, “This reflected the intelligence agency’s renewed focus on Latin America and a new emphasis on foreign intelligence collection and covert operations.” In a closed-door briefing to Congress earlier this month, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said, “Foreign intelligence collection in Latin America has increased by about 51 percent during his tenure,” and that “the number of human sources has increased significantly, with a 61 percent increase.”
The CIA team monitored Mr. Maduro for months, recruiting personnel who could relay his whereabouts and providing military commanders with real-time information on the situation on the ground before and during U.S. airstrikes. The CIA operation was the result of months of planning and the CIA's new focus on Latin America and the Caribbean.
NYT reported, “As part of the operational plan, President Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations within Venezuela. A senior U.S. official did not confirm specific operations in Venezuela, but stated that the team provided support while the mission was in progress.”
Ten days before the U.S. Special Forces attack on Maduro, the CIA launched an attack on a dock where Venezuelan gangs were known to be loading drugs onto ships, marking the start of a formal arrest strategy.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said the number of reports and personnel remained confidential, and the CIA declined to comment.
With America's largest aircraft carrier now deployed to the Caribbean, President Trump has approved additional steps to put pressure on Venezuela and prepare for the possibility of a broader military operation, several officials said.
Breaking with the practice of not publicly acknowledging the CIA's covert operations that led to regime change in South America and the Middle East, officials confirmed that in November last year, President Trump approved the CIA's secret operation plan in Venezuela.
Regarding the approval of the CIA operation on November 18 of last year, the NYT said, "These operations may have been aimed at preparing the battlefield for further action, these officials said," he said. "At the same time, he approved new informal negotiations, and at one point Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro offered to resign after several years of delay, but the White House rejected this."
It was not clear until last year what the CIA's covert action was or when it would be carried out, and at the time, President Trump had not approved the deployment of ground troops in Venezuela, the next step in the administration's pressure campaign on Maduro's government appeared to be sabotage or some kind of cyber, psychological, or intelligence operation, and Trump had been conducting 'private negotiations' with Maduro.
The NYT said that at the time, President Trump had made no decision about the broader course of action he would pursue in Venezuela, and had not publicly stated his ultimate goal other than stemming the flow of drugs from the region, while military and CIA planners had prepared several options for a variety of contingencies. "President Trump emphasizes Venezuela's role when speaking publicly about the drug trade or illegal immigration, but privately he has talked about Venezuela's vast oil reserves and American companies accessing them, and Venezuelan officials have said that Maduro “The president has informed the American people that he intends to step down after a two- to three-year transition,” officials briefed on the matter said, confirming the secret deal.
On November 16 last year, President Trump acknowledged the dealings and conversations with Maduro to some extent, saying, "We may have discussions with Maduro, and we'll see what the outcome is."
Meanwhile, military and CIA planners prepared several options for various contingencies, military planners prepared lists of potential drug facilities that could be attacked, and the Pentagon was also planning attacks on military bases of Maduro's associates.
NYT said at the time, “President Trump held two meetings in the White House Situation Room last week (second week of November) to discuss Venezuela and review options with senior advisors.”
Officials familiar with the matter told the NYT, “President Trump instructed the CIA to prepare for several covert operations within Venezuela, while also beginning informal negotiations with Maduro after briefly suspending negotiations last month.
During the informal talks, President Maduro indicated his intention to provide U.S. energy companies with access to the country’s oil resources.”
“Venezuelan officials have informed Americans that President Maduro intends to step down after a two- to three-year transition,” the officials said. “It is unclear which outcome President Trump prefers at the time.
He could agree to a diplomatic agreement to give American companies greater access to Venezuela’s oil resources, he could push for a resolution that would allow President Maduro to voluntarily relinquish power, or he could demand that the United States forcibly oust the Venezuelan dictator.”
The U.S. military has already begun a major Caribbean buildup of naval forces in "Operation Southern Spear," the largest since the Cuban missile crisis and blockade of 1962.
The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford arrived in the Caribbean over the weekend, and with 15,000 troops now stationed in the region, including Marines aboard an amphibious assault ship and personnel from a Puerto Rican military base, the military buildup has emerged as the most obvious part of a multifaceted pressure campaign.
A preview of the operation was announced by the U.S. State Department designating Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization as of November 24 last year.
Cartel de los Soles is not a cartel in the traditional sense, but it has become a means for the Trump administration to label the broad forces of Maduro's government as a terrorist organization, putting pressure on the government while potentially paving the way for military action.
President Trump's subsequent public statements reflected uncertainty about the final outcome but also intensified the pressure, saying on November 17 last year, "I'm not ruling out any possibilities," and "We just have to deal with Venezuela," and even suggested the possibility of direct negotiations with Maduro.
The United States then carried out 21 known attacks on ships that the State Department said were smuggling drugs, killing at least 83 people.
President Trump said sufficient information justified the attack, but administration officials did not provide detailed evidence about the cargo the boat was carrying, and a video was released showing the confirmed killings of two people who survived the boat that capsized after the attack.
The attacks were carried out without congressional authorization under the U.S. laws of war, and legal experts and Democrats in Congress have begun to criticize the administration for intentionally targeting civilians suspected of crimes but not combatants.
The CIA's covert operation in Venezuela, approved by President Trump, became official 10 days before the military arrested Maduro in a surprise attack, the CIA launched an attack on a dock where Venezuelan gangs were said to be loading drugs onto ships.
At the time of his inauguration, CIA Director Ratcliffe announced his intention to “create a more aggressive agency with a new focus on intelligence gathering and spy recruitment and a willingness to conduct covert operations.”
NYT said, “This operation was the result of months of planning and the CIA’s new focus on Latin America and the Caribbean,” and “Early in Trump’s inauguration, Pentagon officials lamented that US intelligence on Venezuela and the Caribbean was lagging far behind that of allies such as the UK.”
President Lee Jae-myung said at a New Year's press conference, "With the change in government, we are developing strong national defense and security capabilities, but we are taking a dialogue and conciliatory tone because we believe that the most secure security is a situation of peaceful coexistence with no need for fighting and no room for fighting through dialogue and communication."
He added, "U.S. President Trump is a bit unique, but I think that can be greatly helpful in resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula. A style like President Trump seems to be helpful in conversations with Chairman Kim Jong-un. So, let’s pave the way, and I will act as a pacemaker. “It is difficult for us to do it ourselves, so if Peacemaker’s peacemaking is successful, it will be helpful to the Korean Peninsula, so we will create the conditions as much as possible,” he said on the 21st, putting pressure on North Korea to pursue dialogue through ‘military build-up.’
Regarding the won exchange rate, President Lee said, "I predict that it will fall to around 1,400 in a month or two," and added, "I believe it is difficult to easily restore this to its original state with Korea's own policies."
President Lee is pushing for a North Korea-US summit in April.
President Trump has declared that he will be impeached if the Republican Party loses the majority in the November midterm elections.
During the first term of the Trump regime, during secret talks with North Korea in January 2019, Navy SEALs infiltrated the coast at night as a result of an operation to strengthen CIA wiretapping on the west coast, and when the operation failed, they killed North Korean fishermen. This secret operation was reported by the NYT on September 5, 2025, citing an undisclosed document.
The CIA operation appears to have been aimed at obtaining information on North Korea's wiretapping technology, and the accident occurred on the West Coast as the main operation area.
See <US Forces Attack Venezuelan Boat, Killing 11, Disguised as Civilian Aircraft, 'War Crime', January 3, 2026>
<Trump Navy SEAL military operation to infiltrate North Korea Vs CIA covert operation conflict, September 6, 2025>
<Trump January 2019, Navy SEAL kills North Korean fishermen who infiltrated North Korea to eavesdrop on Kim Jong-un, September 5, 2025>
<Haines demonstrates CIA operation ‘liquidation’ DMZ during working-level participation in Korean Quad, May 14, 2021>
<Pompeo ‘North Korea strategy led by CIA’, Berlin Declaration ‘involved’, April 2, 2021>
<Singapore North Korea-US summit confirmed by KMC Center Director as CIA project, May 23, 2021>
<Linking driver mediators to CIA North Korea strategy, September 14, 2020>
CIA, CovertAction, dialogue, Maduro, Venezuela, North Korea, covert operations, non-diplomatic countries, Lee Jae-myung, Trump