CIA Director Ratcliffe's Key Role in Venezuela Intervention and Iran Crackdown Highlighted

John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, played a key role in the recent United States intervention in Venezuela. On January 3, 2026, US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Operation Absolute Resolve, a military strike on Caracas. World Tribune reports that Reuters sources confirmed the CIA had a small team on the ground since August, monitoring Maduro's movements and pinpointing his location during the operation. Ratcliffe heads the main US intelligence-gathering organization and joined daily leadership meetings with President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House aide Stephen Miller, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to coordinate on Venezuela. TBS News details Ratcliffe's direct contact with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez to align her actions with US interests. The CIA's covert operations in late December laid groundwork for the strikes, as noted in Wikipedia's entry on the event. President Trump appeared alongside Ratcliffe during the operation, highlighting his involvement. On Venezuela's aftermath, Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president on January 5. As of January 14, Trump spoke by phone with her on oil, trade, and national security, a call she called positive. Prisoner releases continue, with human rights groups confirming dozens freed so far. Shifting to Iran, Ratcliffe joined Rubio and Hegseth in a National Security Council meeting on January 13 to discuss nationwide protests where activists report over 2500 deaths in 17 days. ABC News states Trump announced the killings have stopped and executions of protesters canceled, based on sources he described as very important. Geostrategy-Direct from January 14 praises Ratcliffe as an unlikely spymaster restoring the CIA's reputation in the Trump era, citing past work like highlighting China's 2020 election interference. Listeners, thank you for tuning in. 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.