A covert C.I.A. team conducted sabotage operations in Venezuela to help ensure that a U.S. military strike force could enter the country safely to seize President Nicolás Maduro early this month, according to people briefed on the operation.
The work of the secretive operatives was a sign of close cooperation between the spy agency and the U.S. military, officials said. But it also reflected the spy agency’s new focus on Latin America, as well as a renewed emphasis on intelligence collection overseas and on covert operations.
U.S. officials insist a more aggressive stance by the agency — and focus on Latin America — is bearing results. In a closed-door briefing to Congress earlier this month, John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, said that foreign intelligence collection on Latin America had increased roughly 51 percent during his time in office, according to people familiar with the meeting. He also said the number of human sources had increased substantially, rising by 61 percent.
The actual number of reports and recruited sources remains classified, according to the officials, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The C.I.A. declined to comment.
A senior U.S. official declined to confirm the specific operations in Venezuela but said the team provided support for the mission as it was taking place. The team spent months monitoring Mr. Maduro and recruited people who could relay information on his movements. It also provided intelligence to military commanders about real-time conditions on the ground, both before and during the raid.
As part of the planning for the operation, President Trump authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert actions inside Venezuela. Ten days before the military seized Mr. Maduro, the C.I.A. carried out a strike on a dock where members of a Venezuelan gang were purportedly loading drugs onto boats.
The operation was the product of months of planning and the C.I.A.’s new focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Pentagon officials early last year lamented that U.S. intelligence on Venezuela and the Caribbean lagged well behind that of its allies, such as the British.
Mr. Ratcliffe came into office promising a renewed focus on intelligence collection and the recruitment of spies, as well as a desire to make a more aggressive agency that would be willing to undertake covert action.
Placing the secret team inside Venezuela is the clearest example of the more aggressive approach, at least that has so far come to light. Because the United States did not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, and its embassy was closed, the covert team could not rely on the kind of diplomatic protection that American spies have in most overseas assignments.
C.I.A. involvement in military operations often remains shrouded in mystery for years. But Mr. Trump has been unusually open about the agency’s work in the Venezuela operations. He publicly confirmed a New York Times story last year that he had authorized C.I.A. operations in the country. And he revealed the mysterious operation at the port during a radio interview.
In a news conference after the raid, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, credited the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies. “We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional,” General Caine said, adding that intelligence agencies tracked Mr. Maduro’s movements.
Throughout last summer and fall, Mr. Ratcliffe met regularly with Marco Rubio, the secretary of state; Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary; and General Caine to plan the operation.
Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades.
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