A Venetian court has sentenced two former United States Special Forces soldiers – Green Berets – to 20 years in prison for their part in a failed beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro.
Former soldiers Luke Denman and Airan Berry allowed to take part in the May 4 operation orchestrated by a third former US soldier staying in the US, announced the President of Venice Tarek William Saab on Twitter on Friday.
“They acknowledge their responsibility for the facts,” Saab wrote, adding the case will continue for dozens of other suspects. He did not provide details.
“Operation Gideon” was launched from probation camps in neighboring Colombia, killing at least eight rebel soldiers while imprisoning a total of 66. Former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who runs a private, Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA, claimed responsibility for the failed coup.
Venezuelan prosecutors announced that Denman and Berry, both former U.S. service members, had been convicted of conspiracy, trafficking in illegal weapons, and “terrorism.”
The two Americans, arrested in the coastal fishing community of Chuao, have since been widely viewed by officials on Venezuelan national TV as evidence of their long-held claims that the US is intent on repeating Maduro’s socialist government.
US Government Role?
The incident also sparked allegations that US-backed music leader Juan Guaido had authorized Goudreau through a signed agreement to carry out the attack, carried out by two of Guaido’s former political advisers.
Guaido and U.S. officials have denied any role in the plot. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would use all possible means to win the freedom of Denman and Berry.
A day before authorities announced that the two ex-Green Berets had been convicted, Venetian authorities opened the trial of six American executives of the Houston-based Citgo company. The six men were arrested two years ago in Venezuela on charges of corruption.
The case had been going on for months until former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson met in person with Maduro in Caracas in July to urge them to be released so they could return to the US.
Both play out amid hostility between Washington and Caracas. The Trump administration last year threw its support behind opposition leader Guaido, who declared he was the legitimate president of Venezuela, and saw Maduro fall.
Guaido accuses Maduro of the economic and social collapse of a once prosperous nation, while the socialist leader says Washington is manipulating Guaido to steal the nation’s vast oil wealth.
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