The CIA had informants within the Venezuelan government who leaked data about Maduro

The CIA had sources within the Venezuelan government that provided the US agency with data on the movements and location of President Nicolás Maduro, revealed The Washington Post, which cites people familiar with the matter. The agency “had a small clandestine team on the ground since August, which was able to provide extraordinary information about Maduro’s habits, which facilitated his capture“, sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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According to the media, the activation of these informants led to carrying out the aggression against Venezuela on the dawn of this Saturday, which resulted in the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president, as well as his wife, Cilia Flores. However, sources asserted that the CIA would not have directly participated in the operation for the kidnapping of Maduro, as this would have been carried out by elite commandos of the Army’s Delta Force. Furthermore, as they expressed, the strategy for Venezuela was coordinated between the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller; Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth; and CIA director, John Ratcliffe, with phone calls and sometimes daily meetings between them and with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Immediate life test”

Trump announced that in the course of the attack —which affected Caracas, as well as the states of Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua— Maduro and the first lady were captured, who were “taken out of the country”.

His detention was confirmed later by the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who demanded that the US government provide an “immediate proof of life” of both.

The Attorney General of the North American country, Pamela Bondi, said that the Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also captured, “will soon face the wrath of American Justice on American soil and in American courts”. “Nicolás Maduro has been accused of narcoterrorist conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States”, Bondi pointed out, indicating that both the Venezuelan leader and the first lady were charged in the Southern District of New York. For its part, the Venezuelan Government described Washington’s actions as a “very serious military aggression.” “This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, especially its articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of States and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and seriously endangers the lives of millions of people,” indicates an official statement.