Venezuela coup plotters met at Trump Doral. Central figure says U.S. officials knew of plan.

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela coup plotters met at Trump Doral. Central figure says U.S. officials knew of plan.
BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO, KEVIN G. HALL, SHIRSHO DASGUPTA, AND BEN WIEDER
OCTOBER 30, 2020 03:16 PM, UPDATED 11 HOURS 13 MINUTES AGO

In a challenge to denials of government involvement, the ex-U.S. special operations sergeant whose security firm took part in a botched Venezuelan coup last May said two Trump administration officials met with and expressed support to planners of Operation Gideon, a Bay of Pigs-type operation that tried to oust Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

It’s a story of bungling, bravado and cloak-and-dagger plotting, with plans shared in clandestine meetings in the back of limousines while rolling through Miami, in restaurants and even at dusk on the 12th fairway of the Red Course of Trump Doral, the Miami Herald/McClatchy has learned.

Details have been elusive, even as Gideon’s planning and execution happened in the nation’s capital, South Florida and across the Caribbean Sea in coastal Venezuela. The allegations reported exclusively in this story are also contained in a $1.4 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed Friday, Oct. 30, by Miami attorney Gustavo J. Garcia-Montes in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The suit is against Juan Jose Rendon, a political consultant closely aligned with Venezuelan legislator Juan Guaidó, who the Trump administration in January 2019 began calling the legitimate president of the oil-rich South American nation.

It was brought on behalf of retired Sgt. 1st Class Jordan Goudreau, who in roughly seven hours of detailed interviews insisted he had encouragement from the administration and even held meetings to plan the operation at the Trump Hotel in the nation’s capital and at the Trump Doral west of Miami. Reporters worked on fact-checking Goudreau’s data and allegations over a six-week period.

More:
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article246819562.html

Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016275257

Anyone shocked by this?

[SamKnause]

1. I'm not shocked at all.

I would be shocked if the U.S. wasn't involved.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Downright creepy, from the article:

He also said in his lawsuit he had seen a competing offer of assistance to the Guaidó administration purportedly from Erik Prince, brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and owner of the security firm Frontier Services Group. This is denied by Prince, who is mentioned in Friday’s lawsuit.

Goudreau’s lawsuit identified two Trump administration officials he said had prior knowledge of his plans. They are Andrew “Drew” Horn, at the time an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and Jason Beardsley, a former soldier who is an adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Orange Pig has his own Bay of Pigs fiasco. McClatchy has been doing good investigative reporting. nt

[The Magistrate]

4. Interesting Article, Ma'am

Good to see evidence of the plot emerging from sources well beyond statements by men in Venezuelan custody.