Operation Gideon (2020)

rdf:langString Operation Gideon (2020)

rdf:langString Operation Gideon

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rdf:langString The Washington Post

rdf:langString Military Times

rdf:langString Ephraim Mattos, as reported in The Washington Post

rdf:langString Top to bottom, left to right:

rdf:langString Venezuelan authorities intercepting a boat; Nicolás Maduro holding the US passports of captured former Green Berets; SEBIN agents displaying captured raid participants

rdf:langString Equipment and identity documents allegedly brought into Venezuela by mercenaries

rdf:langString Detainees in prone position in custody of Venezuelan authorities

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rdf:langString * 6 killed * 17 captured

rdf:langString * National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela * Bolivarian Intelligence Service Support: *

rdf:langString Venezuelan dissidents * Silvercorp USA Support: * Hernán Alemán

rdf:langString Jordan Goudreau * Clíver Alcalá Cordones * Javier Nieto Quintero * Robert Colina * Antonio Sequea Torres

rdf:langString Nicolás Maduro * Diosdado Cabello * Vladimir Padrino López * Néstor Reverol

rdf:langString Operation Gideon

rdf:langString February 2022

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rdf:langString Operación Gedeón 2020 - Militant equipment.png

rdf:langString Operación Gedeón 2020 - arrests.png

rdf:langString the crisis in Venezuela and the Venezuelan presidential crisis

rdf:langString Bad grammar

rdf:langString Unknown

rdf:langString ≈60

rdf:langString [T]hey also studied the possibility of effectively kidnapping Maduro and his close associates. The effort involved speaking to more than a dozen attorneys about the legalities of such a mission, Rendón said. They looked at the "universal enemy" argument – once used to prosecute pirates – that formed the basis of some Nazi renditions after World War II. They compiled a dossier on the failed Bay of Pigs attempt to liberate Cuba from the government of Fidel Castro.

rdf:langString [Luke Denman] mentioned that he had a buddy from the Army that was currently in D.C. talking to people. His understanding was that he was talking to people pretty high up to set something up either to train Venezuelans or lay the groundwork for further American involvement. He said his buddy up in Washington was talking to guys, getting approval. He was led to believe that there was full state sanction. Luke thought, "if the government was signing off on this, then we are doing the right thing". It's not like they were expendables, trying to make a few bucks.

rdf:langString "They were all under the impression that everything was being supported by the U.S., that they've got special Delta Force commandos working with them and that were part of the presidential bodyguard detail," he said. "I just looked up Jordan's website and Instagram account, and I was like, 'Guys, guys, guys, this guy is not who he says he is.

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rdf:langString Note: Juan Guaidó has publicly alleged the audio is falsified and does not depict any conversation he participated in.

rdf:langString Operation Gideon (Spanish: Operación Gedeón) was an unsuccessful attempt by Venezuelan dissidents and an American private military company, Silvercorp USA, to infiltrate Venezuela by sea and remove Nicolás Maduro from office in Venezuela. The plan involved entering the country by boat into Macuto port from 3 to 4 May 2020 in order to take control of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia, capture Maduro and other high-level figures in his government, and expel them from the country. The operation had been infiltrated by officials of the Maduro government early on. Commentators and observers, including Guaidó officials who initially contacted Silvercorp, described the operation as amateurish, underfunded, poorly-planned, having little or no chance of success, and a suicide mission. The operation occurred in the broader context of an ongoing international dispute beginning in January 2019 over the identity of the legitimate president of Venezuela; Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó. Throughout 2019, Maduro had maintained control of Venezuela's military agencies and key governmental institutions. The state intelligence agencies, as well as the Associated Press, had prior knowledge of the plot, which was intercepted before the first boat reached land. The attack went forward despite its impracticality, with Silvercorp founder Jordan Goudreau possibly motivated by a multi-million dollar reward offered by the United States to arrest or assist with the arrest of Maduro and his high-ranking officials in connection with federal indictments filed in late March 2020 alleging involvement in drug-trafficking activity. The raid involved two fiberglass motorboats owned by Silvercorp which launched from eastern Colombia toward the Caribbean coast of Venezuela north of Caracas. The boats were carrying approximately 60 Venezuelan dissidents and two American former Green Berets employed as mercenaries by Silvercorp. Eight Venezuelan dissidents were killed and seventeen invaders were captured, including the two American security contractors, whose interrogations were broadcast on state television in the hours following the event. After the attack, it became public that a formal document setting out the objective of the operation was signed in October 2019 between Silvercorp and Guaidó's Strategy Committee, which Guaidó had formed with the goal of exploring all available options for removing Maduro from power and installing himself as president. Guaidó's Strategy Committee withdrew from the agreement and cut off ties with Silvercorp and Goudreau in November 2019. Juan Guaidó, his Strategy Committee, and officials of the Colombian and United States governments have all denied any role in the actual attack that went forward on 3 May 2020.