The failed operation was part of Washington\u2019s efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan leader<\/p>\n
A US federal agent secretly attempted to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s personal pilot as part of a plot to capture the leader and deliver him into American custody on drug trafficking charges, AP reports.
\nCiting three current and former US officials, as well as one of Maduro\u2019s opponents, the outlet claimed that Homeland Security agent Edwin Lopez met with Maduro\u2019s pilot General Bitner Villegas in the Dominican Republic in 2024.
\nLopez allegedly offered the pilot money and protection in exchange for diverting Maduro\u2019s plane to a location where the US authorities could arrest him. The pilot remained noncommittal but continued to exchange messages with the agent for more than a year, even after Lopez retired in July 2025.
\nLopez reportedly cited a US Justice Department announcement doubling the bounty for Maduro\u2019s capture to $50 million, urging Villegas to \u201cbe Venezuela\u2019s hero.\u201d The pilot ultimately refused, calling Lopez a \u201ccoward\u201d and cutting off contact.
\nThe revelations come as the US steps up military and intelligence pressure on Caracas. President Donald Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and has deployed warships, aircraft, and thousands of troops to the Caribbean for what Washington calls an anti-drug campaign.
\nIn recent months, US strikes on vessels near Venezuela and Colombia have reportedly killed dozens of people.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump teases land strikes amid stand-off with Venezuela<\/p>\n
Trump has said the actions target narcotics traffickers. US officials have accused Maduro\u2019s government of running a \u201cnarco-state.\u201d
\nThe Venezuelan president denied the allegations, calling them a pretext for regime change. He also described Trump\u2019s admission of covert CIA activity inside Venezuela as unprecedented and \u201cdesperate.\u201d
\nMaduro has placed the military on heightened alert and stated that Venezuela maintains a large arsenal of Soviet-era Igla-S air defense systems.
\nMoscow, a close ally of Caracas, has condemned the US campaign. Earlier this month, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Washington of plotting a coup in Venezuela under the guise of an anti-drug operation, calling it \u201ca flagrant violation of international law and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The failed operation was part of Washington\u2019s efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan leader A US federal agent secretly attempted to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s personal pilot as part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t