Latin America
Related: About this forumVenezuela: 2 US 'mercenaries' arrested in anti-Maduro raid
Scott Smith and Joshua Goodman, Associated Press
Updated 5:57 pm CDT, Monday, May 4, 2020
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuelan authorities say theyve detained two U.S. citizens accused of involvement in a deadly beach invasion aimed at arresting socialist leader Nicolás Maduro and have mobilized more than 25,000 troops to hunt for other rebels operating in the country.
Venezuelan state television didn't identify the Americans, but Florida-based ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau said Monday that he was working with the two men in a mission launched a day earlier aimed at liberating Venezuela. Goudreau has claimed responsibility for Sunday's operation, which Venezuelan authorities say left eight people dead.
He identified two former U.S. veterans taken into Venezuelan custody as Luke Denman and Aaron Berry. The two served in Iraq and Afghanistan with him in the U.S. military, Goudreau said.
A Venezuelan also detained, identified as Josnars Adolfo Baduel, says in a video played on state TV that two U.S. citizens were among those nabbed. Baduel is shown speaking to a security force officer in a video posted on the Twitter account of powerful socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Opposition-leader-denies-ties-to-Venezuela-15245727.php
10th Special Forces Group veterans arrested for allegedly taking part in Venezuela coup plot. Luke Denman (ODA 0136) and Aaron Barry, went dark 8 days ago crossing the border. Worst part: CIA caught wind and tried to talk them out of it in Jamaica. Not a USG condoned op.
https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet/1257438010863489028
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(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix). Security forces guard the shore area and a boat in which authorities claim a group of armed men landed in the port city of La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday, May 3, 2020. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said on state television...
FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)Instead, George W. and Trump had to drag him out and give him power again.
Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)Last edited Mon May 4, 2020, 10:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Google translated from a Venezuelan source:
May 4, 2020
Diosdado Cabello published a video of the arrest of the son of General Raúl Baduel in which he declares that the two Americans who are detained are part of the security personnel of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
«Here are his first statements where he voluntarily expresses himself. Imperialism is undoubtedly directing this terrorist attack against the Homeland, Cabello wrote on his account on the social network Twitter.
Josnars Adolfo Baduel is heard when he says that: «They are intermediaries as I said to Mr. Right now and they say that they work with the security advisory of the President of the United States. Who is the President of the United States? Donald Trump, explains Baduel Jr.
Twitter, video shows suspect being captured:
Link to tweet
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1257412588046032898&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapuntoenlinea.net%2F2020%2F05%2F04%2Fhijo-de-baduel-los-dos-norteamericanos-que-nos-acompanaban-son-personal-de-seguridad-de-trump%2F
https://apuntoenlinea.net/2020/05/04/hijo-de-baduel-los-dos-norteamericanos-que-nos-acompanaban-son-personal-de-seguridad-de-trump/
Found a photo of the man's father, General Raúl Baduel
Reminds one of former U.S. psychological operations
expert, General Edward Lansdale
Chainfire
(17,538 posts)win dirty prizes. I have no sympathy for soldiers for hire, they are no different than mob hit-men. They get what they get.
Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)Diosdado Cabello: Cliver Alcalas Chief Mercenary Taken Down and DEA Venezuelan Asset Captured in US Led Mercenary Attack (Images and Video)
May 3, 2020
The president of the National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, confirmed this Sunday that Robert Colina, alias Pantera, was one of the 8 people killed this Sunday in an attempt to enter Venezuelan territory through the city of La Guaira, to generate terrorist actions in the country aiming at a coup. Two people are captured. A large batch of military weapons was seized and vehicles were found ready in La Guaira to carry out actions against institutions and persons.
In the early hours of Sunday, a US led sea mercenary attack was neutralized by the Venezuelan army in the central coastal area of La Guaira State (Macuto) resulting in eight mercenaries killed and two captured. An important military arsenal was also seized during the operation and air-land-sea operations are still being carried out in order to capture any other mercenary on the run.
In statements from the Federal Legislative Palace, Cabelló indicated that, in addition to Robert Colina, a person with the surname Querales Sequera was identified, presumably a family member of three of the mercenaries in this group, referring to Antonio, Juvenal and Juven Sequera Torres , participants in the coup attempt on April 30. In addition, he announced that one of the detainees is a drug trafficker, a DEA agent, according to her own confession, corroborated with operations she carried out.
Cabello pointed out that it is presumed that they are not the only ones who came in the operation. He indicated that there was a confrontation and we do not know if there were people who sank or tried to swim to another place. One of the detainees was captured doing this.
More:
https://orinocotribune.com/diosdado-cabello-cliver-alcalas-chief-mercenary-taken-down-and-dea-venezuelan-asset-captured-in-us-led-mercenary-attack-images-and-video/?fbclid=IwAR2qA8gJJXuBWqckn2YUmRt2lwyojdbpsOCJ8hLuFMWHIWvah7kvM15FObI
Judi Lynn
(160,530 posts)New Details Emerge Linking US to Latest Coup Attempt in Venezuela
There is strong evidence to suggest that both Juan Guaidó and the U.S. government were intimately involved in a botched weekend insurrection.
by Alan Macleod
May 04th, 2020
The government of Venezuela is celebrating after thwarting another foreign-backed coup attempt Sunday, just two days after self-declared another coup attempt by Interim President Juan Guaidó ended in total failure. A flotilla of small speed boats filled with up to 300 paramilitary units, sailed from their training ground in Colombia heading for a port near the countrys capital Caracas, from where they were aiming to kickstart an insurrection. They confidently predicted they would be in the Miraflores presidential palace within 96 hours. However, the mission went spectacularly wrong almost immediately, as they were intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy, who reportedly killed at least eight in the fighting at sea, capturing many others.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol appeared on television to inform the public that in the early hours of Sunday, A maritime invasion was attempted by a group of terrorist mercenaries coming from Colombia with the intent of committing acts of terrorism in the country, assassinating leaders of the revolutionary government, increase the spiral of violence, generate chaos and confusion among the public, and from that, spark a new attempt at a coup detat. Reverol praised the quick response of the armed forces and police in repelling the invasion. It would seem that the foiled imperialists attempts to overthrow the legitimately constituted government led by Nicolas Maduro has pushed them to formulate excessive actions that, without any doubt, deserve the forceful repudiation of our people and the international community, he concluded.
. . .
It should also be understood that Goudreau is not a whistleblower. Far from it; he is proud of his actions, despite their failure. Nothing Im doing is illegal, he dubiously asserted, There are other people in the country who are ready to flip. They just need a catalyst, he added, just as questionably. His social media accounts show him to be a strong supporter of President Trump and the Make America Great Again Movement. The only reason he produced the documents, he revealed, is that Guaidó stiffed him for the money, refusing to pay even a $1.5 million retainer fee. They kept promising to pay, week after week, he revealed in an interview with a Spanish-language TV station. This sort of behavior is perhaps not unexpected coming from a politician who promised Mike Pence that he controlled half the Venezuelan military and is widely accused of embezzling over $90 million of U.S. public money. A December poll found him to have a favorability rating of 10 percent and an unfavorability rating of 69 percent. That was before he was removed by his allies from his role of head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and even removed as a member of his own party.
Goudreaus company, Silvercorp, is a private entity, but could not do what it does across Latin America without the aid of the United States. In recent decades, the practice of regime change has been outsourced from the government itself to semi-private corporations, giving the White House some form of plausible deniability to its operations. National Endowment for Democracy founder Allen Weinstein helpfully explained to The Washington Post what his organizations role was: A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA, he said. However, when it comes to Venezuela, the U.S. has been far from successful.
. . .
. . . What a strange dictatorship Venezuela is, where world-renowned pro-democracy activists can wage decade-long campaigns of terrorism, assassinations and coups, free to travel the country and the world promoting their cause with virtually no consequences from the tyrannical government.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/new-details-latest-us-hatched-coup-attempt-venezuela/267224/?fbclid=IwAR37gxBcCXj5Qq9wkpZSpP7W3ZaifKXfJucj_2s_0Eyrmcpbr9JGwGcwE1o