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Macuto’s fiasco: how the “invasion” of Venezuela failed completely
Without passing: the coast of Venezuela. Image: AP
Ships navigate the Venezuelan coast, a helicopter spins in midair, gunshots strike the darkness. It must have been the beginning of a glorious hussar piece and ended in bloody disgrace. Eight attackers are killed, two more are arrested. “Once again, the arms of the republic have triumphed,” Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said after the incident over the weekend.
During Operation Gideon, Colombian-trained mercenaries attempted to disembark at the Macuto seaside resort near the Venezuelan capital Caracas, the armed forces said. The United States government is behind the attempted invasion. In a video, former US soldier Jordan Goudreau confesses the command. «We launched a brave amphibious attack from the Colombian coast to the heart of Caracas. Our men are fighting now. Our units in southern, eastern and western Venezuela have been activated, “says the former Green Berets paratrooper and owner of the private security company Silvercorp in the US state of Florida.
However, experts call the action a disaster. Invasion is perhaps too big a word. It is more like a series of incompetent raids, in which most of those involved are now dead or arrested, “said Venezuelan expert Phil Gunson of the research institute International Crisis Group, in a radio interview.
The Venezuelan “invasion”:
Two former US soldiers are among the arrested mercenaries. “He wanted to help Venezuelans regain control of their country,” said Luke Denman in an interrogation broadcast on Venezuelan television. Before the attempted invasion, he had trained Venezuelan deserters for the command operation in Colombia. For use, you should receive up to $ 100,000 from Silvercorp.
Company director Goudreau claims to have met Denman in Germany, where they were both stationed during their military service. The second mercenary named Airan Berry is said to have remained in Germany after his service. Telesur television station published a photo of his German driving license. Furthermore, according to the website of a language school, he attended a German course in Schweinfurt in 2018.
The mercenaries wanted to take the Caracas airport under their control, arrest Maduro and fly him to the United States by plane, Denman said during questioning. Initially it was unclear whether the group acted for political or financial reasons. US authorities recently accused Maduro of drug trafficking and awarded a $ 15 million reward to the socialist president.
Maduro presents the US passports. Image: AP
The authoritarian head of state has waged a tough power struggle for more than a year with self-appointed interim president Juan Guaidó, who has the support of the United States. Although numerous states have already recognized the young deputy as a legitimate interim president, he has not yet been able to prevail in Venezuela.
Even behind the failed command operation, Maduro now suspects the United States government: “Donald Trump is the direct leader of this invasion.” However, there is no indication of this. It can be seen in photos and videos that Goudreau worked on various events of the Trump campaign in 2018 on the security team. As far as is known, he has no direct connection to the United States government.
In fact, the amateur behavior of the action speaks against the direct involvement of the United States government. “If we had been involved in this operation, it would have been different,” said United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, if the prisoners were truly Americans, they would do everything possible to get them back.
The Caracas government is at least delighted with the failed command. The prisoners appear on television, Maduro rages against the United States, Defense Secretary Godfather celebrates the readiness of his troops to fight. The once wealthy country has been in a severe economic crisis for years, millions of Venezuelans are leaving their homeland, and Maduro is largely outlawed internationally: some desperate hopefuls have unexpectedly given him another true success story. Even the Venezuelan opposition wants nothing to do with the Macuto fiasco. Guaidó says it has nothing to do with the Silvercorp company. Rather, the action was forced by Maduro to generate false evidence and provide an excuse for his arrest.
The influential Venezuelan spinning doctor Juan José Rendón admits at least conversations with the Florida mercenaries on the CNN en Español television station. It was about exploring ways to arrest government officials in Venezuela and bring them to the United States, Guaidó’s adviser said. He signed a preliminary contract with Silvercorp and paid $ 50,000. However, the plans were not carried out later. Guaidós’ emissaries are said to have believed that Operation Gideon was a suicide mission after meeting Goudreau. You should be right about that. (aeg / sda / dpa)
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