President Donald Trump has signed off on covert CIA measuresinside Venezuela as well as preparations for a possible "broader military campaign," The New York Times reported late Tuesday, citing multiple people briefed on the matter.
The operations may be an attempt to "prepare a battlefield for further action," the report said. Further details on the possible covert operations weren't immediately known, though the Times noted Trump has not authorized combat forces on the ground in the country. Covert operations could include acts of sabotage and cyberattacks, as well as psychological or information operations.
Trump has simultaneously signed off on new back-channel negotiations that reportedly resulted in Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, offering to resign after a couple of years. The White House rebuffed the deal, according to the report.
Since August, the Trump administration has conducted more than 17 unilateral strikes on Venezuelan targets, particularly alleged drug traffickers, killing at least 70 people. He has accused Maduro's government of being a narco-state responsible for a scourge of drug trafficking into the United States, and linked Maduro to criminal gangs.