US President Donald Trump has authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, provoking outrage from the South American nation’s leader.

The US has conducted at least five strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. US Air Force B-52 bombers also circled over the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday for several hours.

Trump has said the US “is looking at land” and eyeing more strikes on drug cartels in the area. The flurry of action came as a top US military leader in the region announced his sudden retirement.

Nicolás Maduro, whose legitimacy as Venezuela’s president is internationally contested, has appealed for peace with the US.

He addressed the “people of the United States” in the television address, saying “no war, yes peace”.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said he believed the military had sea drug operations under control but was now looking at land.

The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack. There are reportedly about 10,000 US forces built up in the Caribbean, either on ships or in Puerto Rico, a US territory.

UN-appointed human rights experts have described the US strikes as “extrajudicial executions”.

BBC Verify confirmed that three B-52 bomber planes – the likes of which have been used during conflicts in Iraq and Syria – took off from Barksdale Air Force base in the gulf state of Louisiana.

A Global Strike Command spokesperson also confirmed to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner, that the three aircraft had flown missions near Venezuela.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, announced on social media that he would retire by the end of the year. His purview includes the Caribbean Sea, where the US has conducted strikes against alleged drug boats at Trump’s behest.

“The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation, and will continue to do so,” he said. “I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe.”

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth praised Holsey’s career and wrote on social media that the admiral “demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation”.

According to the New York Times, Trump’s authorisation of the CIA would allow the agency to carry out operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any wider US military activity.

It remains unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela, or whether those plans are being kept as contingencies, but the spy agency has a long history of activities in South America.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was questioned about the New York Times report.

“Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?” a journalist asked.

“I authorised for two reasons really,” Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgement from a US commander-in-chief about an intelligence organisation whose activities are typically shrouded in secrecy.

“Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

He added: “And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also.”

Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in the region’s drug trade. The president would not be drawn on whether the CIA’s goal was to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.

“Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” he said.

In the most recent US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near Venezuela’s coast.

On Truth Social, Trump said that “intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO [drug-trafficking organisation] drug-trafficking route”.

As has been the case in previous strikes, US officials have not specified what drug-trafficking organisation was allegedly operating the vessel, or the identities of those aboard.

Maduro took to the airwaves on Wednesday night to warn against escalation.

“No to regime change, which reminds us so much of the endless, failed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on,” said the Socialist leader.

“No to CIA-orchestrated coups d’état.”

He added: “Listen to me, no war, yes peace, the people United States.”

Earlier in the day Maduro ordered military exercises in the Caracas suburb of Petare and in neighbouring Miranda state on Wednesday.

In a message on Telegram, he said he was mobilising the military, police and civilian militia to defend the oil-rich country.

Foreign Minister Yván Gil said on Telegram that Venezuela “rejects the warmongering and extravagant statements of the president of the United States”.

“We view with extreme alarm the use of the CIA, as well as the military deployments announced in the Caribbean, which amount to a policy of aggression, threat, and harassment against Venezuela,” he added.

Trump has deployed eight warships, a nuclear-power submarine and fighter jets to the Caribbean in what the White House says is an effort to crack down on drug smuggling.

In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers, the Trump administration said it had determined it was involved in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug-trafficking organisations.

US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of an organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which they say includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.

Mick Mulroy, a former CIA paramilitary officer and Assistant Undersecretary of Defense, told the BBC: “In order to conduct covert action, there needs to be a presidential finding for the CIA specially authorizing it, with specific actions identified.”

Mulroy added that such a finding would mark a “substantial increase” in efforts against drug trafficking organizations.

“Perhaps a real life ‘Sicario’,” he said, referring to a 2015 film that depicts US operatives launching clandestine operations against drug cartels in Mexico.

Additional reporting by Ione Wells