Counter-attack by Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces supported by T-34 tanks near Playa Giron during the Bay of Pigs invasion, 19 April 1961. Photograph Source: Rumlin – CC BY 3.0

The United States must not adopt the tactics of the enemy. Each time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, our inner strength, the strength that makes us free, is lessened.

– Senator Frank Church, 1976

The CIA has committed every crime there is except rape.

– General Walter Bedell Smith, former Director of Central Intelligence, 1949

The term “covert action” is a peculiarly American invention; it does not appear in the lexicon of other intelligence services. Nor does the term appear in the National Security Act of 1947, which created the Central Intelligence Agency. Covert action refers to secret operations to influence governments, organizations, or persons in support of a foreign policy in a manner that is not attributable to the United States.

Donald Trump has gone a step further than all other presidents by ignoring plausible denial; he announced the “secret” authorization to allow the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela against President Nicolas Maduro. This represents the latest attempt to apply pressure on Venezuela. It follows........

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