# The plot to divert Maduro's plane

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The plot to divert Maduro's plane," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-plot-to-divert-maduros-plane/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The reported CIA attempt to recruit Nicolás Maduro's pilot so that a flight carrying him into exile in Havana would instead land at Key West, where the DEA would seize him — a Noriega repeat that prompted John Kiriakou to ask why a government pursuing regime change should care where the deposed ruler goes.*

- **What was attempted:** The CIA tried to recruit Maduro''s pilot
- **The intended flight:** A departure for Cuba diverted from Havana to Key West
- **Who would seize him:** The DEA, taking him to Miami
- **The charge envisaged:** International drug trafficking
- **The precedent:** Manuel Noriega
- **Kiriakou''s question:** Why does it matter where a deposed ruler goes?
- **His own answer:** 'It''s a trophy to put him on trial and to say that you captured him'
- **Doug Macgregor''s view, relayed:** Maduro will not move unless the US invades, and would have arranged Moscow rather than Havana

**The plot to divert Maduro's plane** is the operation reported in late October 2025 and discussed by [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) on the last day of that month.

## The operation as reported

*"The CIA tried to recruit Maduro's pilot,"* Kiriakou says, *"so that were Maduro to flee, ostensibly for Cuba, the plane, instead of landing in Havana, would land in Key West, and the DEA would grab him and then take him to Miami, just like we did to [Noriega](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/manuel-noriega), and charge him with international drug trafficking."*[1][2]

## The question he cannot answer

What interests Kiriakou is why the destination should matter at all. If the object is [regime change](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-regime-change-2026), he asks, *"what do you give a — where the deposed ruler goes? Why do you care if they go to Havana or Russia or Saudi Arabia or Nigeria?"* He extends the puzzlement backwards: *"I still don't even understand what Bush got out of"* the Noriega prosecution.[2][3]

The answer he supplies is about display rather than security: *"you get the — it's a trophy to put him on trial and to say that you captured him."*[3]

## Why he thinks it would not have worked

Kiriakou relays the assessment of Colonel Doug Macgregor, whom he had spoken to days earlier and describes as very conservative *"but in a libertarian kind of way"*: that Maduro *"is not stupid"*, that he *"is not going to go anywhere unless the United States physically invades Venezuela"*, and that even then he would not be foolish enough to go to Cuba but would have arranged Moscow in advance.[3][4]

Whether he could reach Moscow uncaught is another matter — *"that's a long trip"* — and Kiriakou's reference point for how perilous such a journey can be is [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden)'s.[4]

## See also

- [Maduro Capture](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/maduro-capture)
- [Manuel Noriega](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/manuel-noriega)
- [Venezuela Boat Strikes](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-boat-strikes)
- [Venezuela regime change (2026)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/venezuela-regime-change-2026)
- [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden)
- [The Colombian air bridge through Venezuela](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-colombian-air-bridge-through-venezuela)

## Sources

1. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 28:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1714s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
2. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 29:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1745s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
3. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 29:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1777s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
4. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 30:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=1808s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-plot-to-divert-maduros-plane/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt