CIA spy infiltrated the Maduro government helped with the arrest

Informant infiltrated in the Venezuelan government monitored Maduro’s steps and provided crucial data for the action of United States special forces

The capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by United States special forces was not an isolated event or the result of chance, but the outcome of a complex network of intrigues, high technology and internal cooperation. Details revealed by people informed about the mission indicate that the key to the operation’s success was a CIA source infiltrated in the very heart of the Venezuelan government, who monitored Maduro’s every step in the days and moments leading up to his arrest.

This infiltration exposes the fragility of sovereignty in the face of Washington’s intelligence power, which used a combination of human and technological “eyes” to surround the president. In addition to the internal informant, the American spy agency maintained a fleet of stealthy drones in almost constant surveillance over Venezuelan territory, mapping movements and positions with surgical precision.

The price of loyalty and the new CIA doctrine
While the Venezuelan source’s exact recruitment methods remain under wraps, former intelligence officials point out that financial pragmatism may have trumped ideology. The US$50 million reward offered by the US government for information leading to Maduro’s capture is seen as a decisive factor for internal cooperation.

The operation also bears the mark of a change in stance within the CIA. During his confirmation hearing last year, the agency’s director, John Ratcliffe, had already signaled a more aggressive management. Ratcliffe promised an agency willing to conduct covert operations not just to collect data, but as an active arm to “advance American foreign policy” — a vision that harks back to historic periods of direct intervention in neighboring nations.

Under President Trump, this aggressiveness gained formal authorization last fall. In November, planning for a series of actions in Venezuela was approved, signaling that diplomacy had given way to operational force.

War technology and meticulous planning
Preparation for capture involved prior demonstrations of force. At the end of December, the CIA used an armed drone to attack a pier in Venezuelan territory. According to American authorities, the location served as a base for a gang that loaded drugs on boats, a justification used for the use of aerial lethality before the main mission.

The capture operation itself is described as the result of “months of meticulous planning” and a deep symbiosis between intelligence and the military. Although the field work was carried out by the US military’s special operations forces, the brains behind the logistics were the CIA.

“One of the people briefed on Mr. Maduro’s capture said it was the result of a deep partnership between the agency and the military and involved ‘months of meticulous planning.’

The weight of external intervention in Latin America
The nature of the mission, technically labeled a “police operation,” attempts to soften the political impact of a foreign military incursion to arrest a head of state. However, the use of invisible drones and the bribery of high-ranking officials highlight the return of a foreign policy based on force and totalitarian surveillance.

As Julian E. Barnes, an international security expert at The Times, follows the developments in this crisis, the question for the region is what precedent such action sets. The use of war resources for the purposes of “international policing” redefines the limits of the autonomy of South American nations before the interests of Washington.

With information from The New York Times*