covert action

noun

1. a secret action undertaken to influence the course of political events, as a government intelligence operation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of covert action¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Ned Price, deputy to the US representative to the United Nations and formerly a CIA senior analyst and State Department senior adviser, said CIA covert action can take "many forms."

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The acknowledgement of covert action in Venezuela by the U.S. spy agency comes after the U.S. military in recent weeks has carried out a series of deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.

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Covert action, which is authorized in what is known as a presidential finding, can involve a range of secret activities including paramilitary and lethal operations meant to influence political, economic or military conditions in foreign countries.

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The CIA has a long history of engaging in covert action in Latin America, including operations that backed regime change in Guatemala, Chile and Nicaragua.

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It must focus on weakening the regime’s internal stability through economic pressure, covert action and psychological warfare aimed at eroding the leadership’s confidence and sowing divisions within.

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