Jan. 16 (UPI) -- CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with acting Venezuela President Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas on Thursday.
"During the meeting in Caracas, Director Ratcliffe discussed potential opportunities for economic collaboration and that Venezuela can no longer be a safe haven for America's adversaries, especially narcotraffickers," a U.S. official told The New York Times.
The meeting with Rodríguez was meant to build trust, according to the official, and shows Ratcliffe's emphasis on human intelligence gathering and wanting the agency to be less risk avoidant.
The CIA was involved in the plan to capture Maduro, CNN reported. In August, a small team went covertly to Venezuela to track Maduro's movements, which aided the operation. The CIA also had an asset inside the Venezuelan government who helped track his movements.
Rodríguez was installed as Venezuela's leader after U.S. forces captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them to New York. Rodríguez was vice president under Maduro.
