You may have heard about the politic and economic difficulties Venezuela as the country has suffered pretty much a complete economic collapse. This has caused significant issues in the country and led to a rise in tensions.
The current president/dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has been controversial to say the least, while various groups and leaders have been jockeying for a seat at the power table causing tensions to remain high. Most recently, an operation dubbed the Macuto Bay raid or Operation Gideon, has come to worldwide attention as the failed coup d’etat attempt on Maduro. To be fair, it was something out of Hollywood with various Venezuelan members, a US private military company, and several US military contractors attempting to seize power.
The whole operation was planned by a former Major General in the Venezuelan Army, Cliver Alcala Cordones, who defected in 2013 and began gathering his army of defectors while in exile in Columbia. He was assisted by Jordan Goudreau, a Canadian-born American and former US Green Beret who works for Silvercorp USA, a private military company.
The two came up with a operational plan, gathered supplies and recruited members who believed they had the backing of the US government (they didn’t). They also formed an agreement, which is heavily debated as to what the terms were but the general consensus seems to be a private military contract worth $212 million and 14% of recovered US cash from Maduro’s storage (stockpile from strong oil sales).
Goudreau recruited a couple other former Green Beret members who were now private operators, and started bringing in supplies like boats into Columbia in January 2020. Former Green Beret operators began entering Columbia on private flights and a training ground was formed.
Apparently at some point in March 2020, Goudreau travelled to Jamaica aboard a Silvercorp owned fiberglass boat where he met with several former coworkers and special forces friends. He discussed his plan with them and at this point the CIA learned of the operation and warned him not to go through with it. It was further learned that the plan was widely circulated amongst various circles and compromised, even possibly infiltrated by pro-Maduro forces but Alcala and Goudreau pressed on.
In March 2020, a large shipment of weapons and tactical gear shipment was caught by Colombian authorities acting on a tip from the DEA. Allegedly, the DEA believed the shipment was headed for leftist guerillas. After the US publicly accused of Maduro of narcoterrorism and offered a reward for his arrest, Alcala assumed responsibility for a military operation against Maduro. Again he was acting on the idea that the US and Colombia governments were all in on the agreement with Goudreau to overthrow Maduro, but this was not the case.
On March 28th, 2020, the Colombian attorney general announced an investigation into Alcala’s role into the arms shipment from earlier in the month had been opened. The US government publicly denied any ties to Alcala and the US Special Representative described Alcala’s statement as “despicable and quite dangerous”. Alcala was extradited to the US on drug trafficking charges. The Venezuelan government released a public statement blasting the extradition as a way of the US government silencing Alcala from revealing more secrets.
Goudreau still pushed on with the plan and the Venezuelan government, on national tv, identified him as an advisor for Alcala. In fact, the show even identified the first names of two other American operators who would eventually be captured in the failed coup d’etat. Goudreau seemed to ignore this red flag.
On March 30th, the Venezuelan patrol boat, Naiguata, sank after engaging the RCGS Resolute cruise ship which the Venezuelan government believed was part of the coup d’etat. The government believed mercenary operators were onboard and were going to use inflatable zodiac boats to reach Venezuelan shores. It was confirmed, the RCGS Resolute only had a crew of 32 on board and no passengers.
At the end of April 2020, Goudreau finalized his plans and additional payments were made to Silvercorp even with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing. On May 3rd, Goudreau and his team launched via boats in two waves. One boat arrived at Macuto and the other was en route to Chuaco. Both boats combined had 60 operators on board. The first boat engaged Venezuelan Navy and other security forces with resulted in 8 mercenaries captured and 6 dead. This did not stop Goudreau from going forward with the plan.
Goudreau and a former Venezuelan National Guard officer, Javier Nieto Quintero, released a video shortly after the first attack taking responsibility for the attack and officially calling it Operation Gideon. In the video, the two men explained how they intended to launch an army into Venezuela to overthrow Maduro via a naval attack. Furthermore, they disclosed forces had entered Venezuela and were continuing with the operation.
The second boat was intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy, fisherman and the local police force which resulted in all the mercenaries being captured. The local police in Puerto La Cruz also arrested 2 more suspects in the city.
Maduro made a public announcement advising his forces had 13 mercenaries detained and that 2 of them were Americans, Airan Berry and Luke Denman. On May 5th, another announcement was made announcing that dozens of mercenaries were now captured. Various items were seized including weapons and uniforms, some of which had the American flag embroidered on them. The Venezuelan government mobilized 25,000 national troops and a military mission named “Bolivarian Shield” was put into motion to protect the country from any further attacks.
Goudreau published his own announcement declaring the attacks were just to “introduce a catalyst” and that “it was impractical to believe 60 guys can come in and topple a regime”. Instead, his goals were to have “60 guys go in and inspire the military and police to flip and join in the liberation of their country, which deep down is what they want”.
The fallout has been a disaster. Airan Berry and Luke Denmand have appeared on Venezuelan national tv answering questions about the attack. They are facing serious charges including terrorism. Venezuela also put out a warrant for Goudreau, Rendon and Vergara. They are still outstanding. Several countries have expressed outrage over the incident. For example, Colombia rejected accusations that they were involved in attempting to topple the Venezuelan government and instead deflected it as a means by other powers to cause instability in the region. Russia accused the US of meddling in the incident and the actions of the mercanries deserved “unequivocal and decisive condemnation”.
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