McDonagh says CIA's covert operations are becoming dangerously overt

At the Venice Film Festival, Martin McDonagh discussed his film Wild Horse Nine, which centers on the CIA-backed coup in Chile. He stated that the CIA has committed awful acts worldwide and criticized the current administration for not keeping such interventions covert. He also commented on the recent capture of Venezuela's president.

McDonagh's remarks arrive amid an already politically charged Venice festival, where an open letter from artists demanding support for Gaza had set the tone. His film Wild Horse Nine revisits the 1970s CIA-backed coup in Chile, a historical episode he contrasts with contemporary US actions in Latin America. The director noted that while the KGB's activities are widely scrutinized, the CIA's history receives far less critical examination.

When pressed about the recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, McDonagh's castmates declined to comment. McDonagh, however, framed the situation as a shift from covert operations to increasingly open intervention, suggesting that past operatives at least maintained secrecy, while current actions appear less calculated. His comments position the film as a meditation on how state power operates across decades.