A Venetian court has sentenced two former U.S. Special Forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro.
Advocates for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were excluded Friday night from the secret process of imprisonment in what they consider a violation of their constitutional rights to a defense.
Maduro’s chief lawyer announced the surprise decision late on Friday. “They acknowledge their responsibility for the facts,” Tarek William Saab claimed on Twitter, adding that proceedings will continue against dozens of other suspects accused of assisting in the May 3 attack. He did not provide details.
‘Operation Gideon’ was launched from test subjects for neighboring Colombia and killed at least eight rebel soldiers, while more than 60 others were imprisoned.
Ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who runs a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA, claimed responsibility for the failed attack. He had hired his two former allies to prepare a small framework for abandoned Venezuelan soldiers living in the concentration camps. Venezuelan prosecutors have ordered his arrest.
Goudreau is thought to be in the US, where he is also being investigated for alleged violation of arms trade laws in connection with the botched invasion.
Denman and Berry, both decorated former U.S. service members, were found guilty of conspiracy, trafficking in illegal weapons and terrorism, Saab said.
But lawyers for the men said the hearing was ruined by irregularities. Alonso Medina Roa said he was hired a month ago by the families of the two Americans, but so far it has not been a hindrance to meeting or talking with his clients.
In violation of her constitutional rights to a defense, he said, Judge Máximo Marquez never informed him about the proceedings of Friday night at the SEBIN police headquarters, where the men are being held. They were instead represented by a public defender.
The two Americans arrested in a coastal fishing community have been paraded by officials on Venetian state TV as proof of their long-standing claims that the United States is set on violent environment of Maduro’s socialist government.
The incident also drew attention to claims that US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó had authorized Goudreau to carry out the attack, through a signed agreement executed by two of Guaidó’s former US political advisers.
U.S. officials have denied any involvement in the attack, but did not say what knowledge they had about the clandestine camps in Colombia, details of which were made public two days before the attack by an AP investigation. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would use all possible means to win the freedom of Denman and Berry.
Mark Denman, Luke Denman’s brother, said in a statement that the families were “very disappointed” that the men were not represented by their private lawyer.
“With the lawsuit behind us, we are now focused on ensuring that their rights are followed in their detention. This includes humane treatment, access to adequate medical care, communication with their families and lawyers, ”he said.
U.S. officials have also demanded the release of six detainees of U.S. oil operators from Citgo, a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela, who were lured to a meeting in Caracas and then arrested on charges of corruption, all of which are denied.
A day before the two ex-Green Berets were convicted, the corruption trial for the so-called Citgo Six began. The case had been ongoing since her arrest two years and eight months ago, until former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson met Maduro in Caracas in July to demand their release and return home to the US.
Richardson said on Saturday that he would also work to free the convicted veterans, who are both natives of Texas.
“Luke Denman and Airan Berry are American citizens and military veterans who deserve our support,” he said. “We will continue our dialogue with the Venezuelans to try to find a way to bring them back to their families.”
Both cases play out amid hostility between Washington and Caracas. The Trump administration last year threw its support behind opposition leader Guaidó, who is recognized as the legitimate president of Venezuela by 60 peoples who promise to overthrow Maduro.
Guaidó accuses Maduro of the once prosperous economic and social collapse of the nation, while the socialist leader, who wants to narcotize terrorism in the US, says Washington is using Guaidó to steal the nation’s immense oil wealth.
Medina Roa said that although Maduro may be looking to negotiate a political deal with the US for the release of the Green Berets, authorities no longer have to trample on Venezuela’s constitution to achieve its goals.
“It is a perversion of justice to violate their constitutional rights for future political gain,” Medina Roa said.
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