A US federal agent offered Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's chief pilot a fortune to divert the leader's plane so US authorities could capture him, according to a media report detailing a 16-month covert operation that ultimately failed to topple the strongman.

According to AP, the agent told the pilot in a secret meeting that he would be made a very rich man.

The conversation was tense, and the pilot left noncommittal, though he provided the agent, Edwin Lopez, with his cell number — a sign he might be interested in helping the US government.

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The AP report, whose details it says were drawn from interviews with three current and former US officials, as well as one of Maduro’s opponents, comes amid tensions between the Trum

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