A federal agent had a daring plan: persuade Nicolas Maduro's chief pilot to surreptitiously divert the Venezuelan president’s plane to a place where U.S. authorities could nab the strongman. His plan had all the ingredients of a Cold War spy thriller – luxury private jets, a secretive meeting at an airport hangar and high stakes diplomacy in a delicate dance to lure a loyal Maduro lieutenant to switch sides. There was even a final bit of intrigue aimed at rattling Maduro about the pilot’s true loyalties. More broadly, the scheme reveals the extent — and often slapdash fashion — to which the U.S. has for years sought to topple Maduro.
