The Trump administration has secretly authorized the CIA to carry out covert actions in Venezuela, according to U.S. officials, intensifying a campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the country's authoritarian leader.

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The authorization is the latest step in the Trump administration's escalating pressure campaign against Venezuela. For weeks, the U.S. military has been attacking vessels off the Venezuelan coast that it claims are carrying drugs, resulting in the deaths of 27 people. U.S. officials have been clear, privately, that the ultimate goal is to oust Maduro from power.

The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a variety of operations in the Caribbean.

The agency could take covert action against Maduro or his government, either unilaterally or in conjunction with a larger military operation. It is unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela or whether the authorities are planning them as a contingency measure.

But this development comes at a time when the US military is planning its own possible escalation, developing options for President Trump to consider, including attacks inside Venezuela.

The scale of the military buildup in the region is considerable: there are currently 10,000 U.S. troops there, most of them at bases in Puerto Rico, but also a contingent of Marines on amphibious assault ships. In total, the Navy has eight surface warships and one submarine in the Caribbean.

The new authorities, known in intelligence jargon as a presidential finding, were described by several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the highly classified document.

This month, Trump ordered an end to diplomatic talks with the Maduro government due to his growing frustration with the Venezuelan leader's failure to accede to U.S. demands that he voluntarily relinquish power and the officials' continued insistence that they had no involvement in drug trafficking.