Former CIA Chief Says Revealing Covert Strike In Venezuela Undermines The Operation And 'Jeopardizes Lives'

Former CIA director Leon Panetta said that revealing the nature of the strike conducted in Venezuela in December undermined its purpose.

Speaking to The Hill, Panetta said that the "purpose of a covert operation is for it to remain classified, so that those who are involved in that kind of operation are protected in terms of doing whatever operation (you're) trying to accomplish."

"And when it's when it's announced, it basically undermines the covert operation itself, because it then jeopardizes lives," he added.

Other former officials also weighed in on the strike, with one calling it an illegal act of war. Concretely, Rachel VanLandingham, a former Air Force judge advocate, said the strike was "strategically, policy-wise, a mechanism of escalating pressure on Maduro without sending in troops into Venezuela."

"It's clearly unlawful under international law. There was no U.N. Security Council resolution," she added, saying it "violated the territorial integrity of a country."

However, retired Marine Corps colonel Mark Cancian said the attack was legal, saying "there is a presidential finding that authorizes the CIA to take action against the Maduro regime," noting that had the strike been conducted by the military it would have been indeed an act of war.

Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro has directly avoided addressing the strike, telling a journalist "perhaps we'll discuss it in a few days."

Concretely, Ignacio Ramonet asked Maduro about the incident, saying his government "has not confirmed nor denied that information."

Maduro refused to answer, adding that what he could say was that "the national defense system has guaranteed territorial integrity, as well as peace in the country. "Our people are safe and at peace," Maduro added.

The only direct reaction to the episode reportedly came from Venezuelan officials who visited the site of the U.S. attack against alleged cartel infrastructure.

A Venezuelan indigenous person who witnessed the attack told NBC News that the morning after government officials showed up to the area. "The gringos did this," one of the representatives said, according to the woman.