After authorizing covert CIA operations in Venezuela… Trump backtracks and announces he doesn’t intend to launch military strikes against Venezuela

US President Donald Trump said Friday he isn’t considering strikes against Venezuela, which fears the large US military buildup in the region is aimed at regime change.

When a reporter on Air Force One asked Trump about reports that he was planning such strikes, he replied, “No”.

Trump had acknowledged authorizing covert CIA operations in Venezuelan territory, and recently spoke of possible ground strikes targeting “drug-terrorist” cartels.

Since the beginning of September, the United States has been conducting airstrikes in the Pacific Ocean, particularly in the Caribbean Sea, targeting vessels it claims are smuggling drugs. In total, US authorities have claimed responsibility for 15 attacks in recent weeks, which they say have resulted in 62 deaths.

The United States has also deployed eight warships to the Caribbean and F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier is en route to the region.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered the same message in response to an article in the Miami Herald stating that US forces were preparing to strike targets in Venezuela.

“Your sources who claim to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ have misled you and prompted you to write a misleading article,” Rubio said in a post on X.

On the other hand, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States considers illegitimate, accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext to “impose regime change” in Caracas and seize Venezuelan oil.

Venezuelan authorities announced that they had dismantled a cell belonging to the US Central Intelligence Agency that, according to them, aimed to attack a US warship in the region in order to stage an incident and blame it on Venezuela.