CIA activities by country
The Central Intelligence Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States that has carried out numerous confirmed and alleged activities across the world since its founding in 1947.
Africa
Angola
During the Angolan Civil War, the CIA supported UNITA against the communist MPLA as part of Operation IA Feature, funding UNITA with $32 million in cash and $16 million in weapons.Chad
Throughout the 1980s, the CIA supported dictator of Chad Hissène Habré as a counter to dictator of Libya Muammar Gaddafi. Habré later went to trial in 2015 in Senegal for crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.Libya
During the war on terror, the CIA and British MI6 cooperated with the Gaddafi regime. This included renditions of Libyan dissidents back to Gaddafi's regime, where they were often tortured. This was exposed from documents found in Tripoli during the 2011 Libyan Revolution.Niger
In 2018, a CIA drone base near Dirkou operating out of a small commercial airport was revealed by The New York Times.Somalia
The CIA has been alleged to have influenced the 1967 elections by financing Prime Minister Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal and other pro-western leaders. In 2003, the CIA began to covertly arm and finance Somali warlords opposed to the Islamic Courts Union. From the CIA station in Nairobi, Kenya CIA agents would make frequent trips to Mogadishu by plane where they would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the warlords. The CIAs policy was evaluated as a failure, due to the ICU continuing to hold power. During the subsequent Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, the Bush administration expressed doubts about Ethiopia's ability to effectively use the new equipment it had been provided for the operation, prompting the further involvement of CIA agents. CIA paramilitary officers participated in combat alongside the Ethiopian military from the outset of operations against the Islamic Courts Union.Alongside funding proxy wars in Somalia, the CIA has also financed a secret prison in Mogadishu, run by the Somali National Security Agency, but entirely reliant on the United States. According to Somali government officials, American agents operate unilaterally in the country.
South Africa
Former CIA agent and US diplomat Donald Rickard has claimed that the CIA helped arrest Nelson Mandela by informing South African police of his location in 1962, leading to the Rivona Trial and imprisonment until 1990. This is due to his associated with South African communists. In a 2016 article, the African National Congress claimed CIA interference in South Africa was ongoing.Americas
Brazil
The CIA and the United States government were involved in the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. The coup occurred from March 31 to April 1, which resulted in the Brazilian Armed Forces ousting President João Goulart. The United States saw Goulart as a left-wing threat in Latin America. Secret cables written by the US Ambassador to Brazil, Lincoln Gordon, confirmed that the CIA was involved in covert action in Brazil. The CIA encouraged "pro-democracy street rallies" in Brazil, for instance, to create dissent against Goulart.Guatemala
The CIA has carried out a number of interventions in Guatemala, including:- 1952: Operation PBFortune, a failed attempt to overthrow the democratically elected leader Jacobo Árbenz
- 1954: Operation PBSuccess, which overthrew Árbenz and led to decades of military rule in Guatemala
- 1954: Operation PBHistory, an attempt to prove a link between Árbenz and communism, while monitoring Latin American communists
PBSuccess has been noted for radicalising Che Guevara towards Marxism.