CIA Director Ratcliffe Leads Covert Operation to Capture Venezuela's Maduro

John Ratcliffe, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, played a key role in the United States intervention in Venezuela earlier this month. According to Wikipedia, the operation codenamed Absolute Resolve captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3, 2026. Ratcliffe appears alongside President Donald Trump in images from the operation, highlighting his involvement in the planning. Reuters reports that Ratcliffe heads the main United States intelligence gathering organization and joined daily leadership meetings with Trump allies like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House aide Stephen Miller, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. A small Central Intelligence Agency team was on the ground in Venezuela starting in August 2025, monitoring Maduro's movements and pinpointing his location during the raid. The operation involved United States military strikes on infrastructure to suppress air defenses, followed by an apprehension at Maduro's compound in Caracas. Maduro and Flores now face narcoterrorism charges in New York, pleading not guilty on January 5. TBS News notes Ratcliffe stays in direct contact with interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez to ensure actions align with United States interests. On January 14, Trump spoke by phone with Rodriguez about oil, trade, and national security, a call she called positive. World Tribune cites Geostrategy-Direct from January 14, praising Ratcliffe as an unlikely spymaster restoring the Central Intelligence Agency's reputation in the Trump era. His contributions include past assessments of China's 2020 election interference. Ratcliffe also joined national security discussions on Iran protests. ABC News reports that on January 14, he met with Rubio and Hegseth as Trump announced the killing of protesters had stopped and executions were halted, based on sources inside Iran. These developments show Ratcliffe shaping United States intelligence strategy amid high stakes global tensions. Thank you for tuning in, listeners. Please subscribe for more updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. For more http://www.quietplease.ai Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.