- Oct 17, 2011
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Venezuela’s Maduro says two Americans captured in failed invasion attempt
When I first saw the headline, I assumed Maduro was making things up for propaganda purposes. But no! It looks like some mercenaries got in over their heads. (Some of Maduro's other statements definitely spill into propaganda-land, but the basic facts seem to be quite true.)
President Nicolás Maduro said his government had captured two American “mercenaries” Monday in a murky operation allegedly intended to infiltrate Venezuela, incite rebellion and apprehend its leaders, adding a fresh complication to escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. The socialist leader said the plan was to kill him.
Former Venezuelan National Guard officer Javier Nieto Quintero and former U.S. Army Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, head of a Florida company that says it offers paid strategic security services, released a video Sunday announcing the start of “Operation Gideon” and calling on Venezuelan soldiers to join them.
Goudreau, in an interview with The Washington Post, confirmed that two Americans in what he says was a force of about 60 men were captured Monday along with six Venezuelans. He identified the Americans as Airan Berry and Luke Denman. Also captured was one of the operation’s leaders, former Capt. Antonio Sequea.
The Americans, Goudreau said, were fellow former Special Forces members he had known for years who had joined the operation as “supervisors.” He said he has engaged a lawyer in Venezuela and was reaching out to the State Department to try to secure their release.
But Monday, he said that Berry and Denman had been in a boat off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast on Sunday when Maduro’s government intercepted another of the operation’s vessels. He confirmed the Maduro government’s claim Sunday that eight people were killed and two captured by Venezuelan forces, which apparently had been tipped off to their arrival.
The U.S. government “should engage and try to get these guys back,” Goudreau said. “They are Americans. They are ex-Green Berets. Come on.”
U.S. officials have distanced themselves from Sunday’s operation and questioned its veracity and legality.
When I first saw the headline, I assumed Maduro was making things up for propaganda purposes. But no! It looks like some mercenaries got in over their heads. (Some of Maduro's other statements definitely spill into propaganda-land, but the basic facts seem to be quite true.)
President Nicolás Maduro said his government had captured two American “mercenaries” Monday in a murky operation allegedly intended to infiltrate Venezuela, incite rebellion and apprehend its leaders, adding a fresh complication to escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. The socialist leader said the plan was to kill him.
Former Venezuelan National Guard officer Javier Nieto Quintero and former U.S. Army Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, head of a Florida company that says it offers paid strategic security services, released a video Sunday announcing the start of “Operation Gideon” and calling on Venezuelan soldiers to join them.
Goudreau, in an interview with The Washington Post, confirmed that two Americans in what he says was a force of about 60 men were captured Monday along with six Venezuelans. He identified the Americans as Airan Berry and Luke Denman. Also captured was one of the operation’s leaders, former Capt. Antonio Sequea.
The Americans, Goudreau said, were fellow former Special Forces members he had known for years who had joined the operation as “supervisors.” He said he has engaged a lawyer in Venezuela and was reaching out to the State Department to try to secure their release.
But Monday, he said that Berry and Denman had been in a boat off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast on Sunday when Maduro’s government intercepted another of the operation’s vessels. He confirmed the Maduro government’s claim Sunday that eight people were killed and two captured by Venezuelan forces, which apparently had been tipped off to their arrival.
The U.S. government “should engage and try to get these guys back,” Goudreau said. “They are Americans. They are ex-Green Berets. Come on.”
U.S. officials have distanced themselves from Sunday’s operation and questioned its veracity and legality.
