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Venezuela

Washington Places Cuba And Venezuela On ‘Terror’ List

Less than two weeks after an abortive mercenary invasion aimed at overthrowing Venezuela’s government and murdering its president that was hatched by the Trump White House, the US State Department on Wednesday renewed it classification of the country as “not fully cooperating” with Washington’s global war on terrorism. Also added to the list was Cuba, whose embassy in Washington was targeted by a gunman armed with an automatic weapon on April 30, an act that elicited not a word of condemnation from the Trump administration. This marked the first time that Cuba has been placed on the list since 2015 when it was removed as part of negotiations between US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro on the normalization of relations between the two countries.

Guaido’s Leadership In Question Following Failed Coup Attempt

Opposition leaders have reportedly lobbied Washington to change its Venezuela policy and replace Juan Guaido as head of the anti-government bloc. Bloomberg cited anonymous sources Friday claiming that opposition lawmakers have contacted the State Department to request “a change of direction, even leadership.” Several sources told the wire service that the opposition should return to talks with the Maduro government, including regarding parliamentary elections scheduled for this year. Guaido has ruled out elections while Maduro remains in office as well as renewed negotiations with his administration. Opposition lawmakers likewise stressed that “planning needs to be moved from Washington to Caracas,” arguing that Trump’s electoral calculus vis-a-vis Florida is driving the administration’s Venezuela policy.

Rally: End Sanctions, Save Lives! No US Sponsored Attacks On Venezuela!

Saturday, a group of activists from the Latin America Solidarity Coalition of WMASS, Green Rainbow Party Pioneer Valley Chapter, Western Massachusetts Codepink, and Massachusetts Peace Action demonstrated on the Coolidge Bridge in Northampton calling for an end to US the sanctions against Venezuela, and an end to US sponsored coup d’états and mercenaries attacks of Venezuela in an attempt to assassinate President Maduro. In a statement to the press the organizers of the demonstration said: On May 3, 2020, more than 100 heavily armed mercenaries employed by an American contractor, a US Green Berets veteran, landed in several locations on the Venezuelan coast. The mercenaries arrived in heavily armed boats from Colombia where they had been training for the past five months.

Defying US Sanctions, Iran Tanker To Deliver Fuel To Venezuela

A fuel tanker loaded at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas is making its way to Venezuela, according to vessel tracking data issued by Refinitiv Icon, in defiance of the US-imposed sanctions on both countries, including on their respective oil industries. Venezuela, which is already in a crisis, is currently suffering from a shortage of gasoline. The Iranian-flagged tanker “Clafel” reportedly crossed the Suez Canal yesterday, having been loaded with fuel in Iran at the end of March. The Venezuelan-owned PDVSA oil company and the country’s Ministry of Oil did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment, nor has the US State Department. Haaretz also reports that four other vessels of the same size, each flagged by Iran and originating from the same port, are due to cross the Atlantic Ocean, with their final destinations not established.

US Imperialism’s Decomposition Accelerates

On May 3rd a bunch of mercenaries, led by Rambo-like US soldiers of fortune attempted to disembark on the coastal town of Macuto in the La Guaira state in Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, in a so-called Operation Gedeon.  Their leader, ‘contractor’ Jordan Goudreau, CEO of US ‘security company’, SilverCorp, in interview with Miami-based extreme right wing Venezuelan opposition journalist, Patricia Poleo, candidly explained that the aim of their military incursion against the South American nation was to attack the presidential palace so as to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro and install a de facto Guaidó-led government. Goudreau claimed to have deployed a mercenary force of 300 to carry out the military ‘mission’. The mercenaries received training in at least three camps in Riohacha, Colombia, had the full support of the Colombian government that has declared explicitly its desire to overthrow the government of President Maduro.

Corporate Media Don’t Think Americans Paid To Invade Venezuela Count Are Mercenaries

When an attempted invasion of Venezuela launched from the shores of Colombia was foiled on May 3, after armed commandos were intercepted at Venezuela’s coastline of La Guira, it seemed undeniable that the heavily armed men, possessing satellite phones and uniforms with the US flag emblazoned on them, had been paid to take part in a coup attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government (People’s Dispatch, 5/6/20). In recent reports regarding the Bay of Pigs–style invasion, however, the term “mercenary” was accompanied by scare quotes, as if these men could only be seen that way from the perspective of an Official US EnemyTM (whose perspective is always illegitimate in the eyes of corporate media).

Botched Infiltration Of Venezuela Leaves Guaidó Tainted Beyond Repair

The latest chapter in the ongoing effort to overthrow the Venezuelan government reads like a bad spy thriller: a group of mercenaries piloted speedboats from Colombia to Venezuela; half of them were killed or captured by Venezuelan security forces immediately upon landing, while the other half – apparently delayed by mechanical issues with their boat – surrendered to local police and militia the next day. Thirty-nine attackers have been captured so far, including two Americans, both former special forces soldiers. Their plan was to capture or kill high-value targets, including Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Instead, it failed miserably and raised more concerns about the leadership of opposition figure Juan Guaidó.

US Wants Release Of Two Veterans Who Led Failed Coup Attempt In Venezuela

Imperial overreach was on full display this week as the US government demanded that a pair of US citizens — former Special Forces soldiers leading a 60-man invasion of Venezuela with the goal of fomenting a coup and/or capturing or killing that country’s elected president — be released from arrest and returned to the US. Bad enough that the US almost certainly knew in advance about this invasion which involved multiple simultaneous border crossings and beach landings by mercenary forces, many of them reportedly sketchy former Venezuelan soldiers involved in the drug trade, who were on a payroll as soldiers-for-hire. But how about the gall to also claim that when the effort fails, the intended victim of the coup, Venezuela, has no legitimate right to punish the perpetrators, but must release them to their home country, the US — a country that has for years been trying to oust Venezuela’s elected government?

Venezuela Makes Fresh Arrests as Opposition Splinters over Failed Coup

The Venezuelan government announced 16 new arrests in the aftermath of a thwarted invasion attempt last week. Two separate raids on Sunday resulted in three and eight arrests, respectively. There were three other arrests on Saturday and two on Friday, bringing the total of those detained to 39. Among those arrested were two ex-green berets, who confessed to Venezuelan authorities that their mission was to secure the Maiquetia international airport, kidnap Maduro, and transport him to the United States. They have been charged with terrorism, conspiracy and arms trafficking. The detained Venezuelans were charged with conspiracy with a foreign government, treason, terrorism, among others.

The Hidden Plot Of The New Failed US Attempt Against Venezuela

The Venezuelan civil-military deployment is on high alert to the development of what is not yet over. According to the government, 56 mercenaries tried to enter the country, 54 Venezuelans and two Americans, some of whom have been arrested and others killed in Sunday morning’s confrontation. The objective of these groups was to attack the DGCIM, SEBIN and the Miraflores Palace. The structuring of the final plan to asphyxiate Venezuela The strategy of Caracas is to deactivate the actions before they happen, to avoid the execution of the coup plans. The captures, so far, have been early: before the mercenary’s entry and during the arrival of part of the boats. Venezuela is facing a new phase of an uninterrupted siege. The bet of the United States is to achieve that the set of variables with guerilla type attacks to finally succeed in overthrowing Nicolás Maduro so that the restoration and revenge foreseen within the strategy designed from Washington can begin.

Silvercorp Co-founder Speaks With The Grayzone

On May 5, I spoke at length to Drew White, a former US Army Green Beret and the COO of the Silvercorp mercenary firm which spearheaded a botched invasion of Venezuela on Sunday, May 3. On May 4, I made contact with Jordan Goudreau, the Silvercorp CEO whom US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido and his Miami-based advisor, J.J. Rendon, personally contracted to lead the operation. While Goudreau seemed nervous and suggested I call back the following day, White spoke at length about his peripheral knowledge of the failed plot as well as his relationship with the two Americans Green Berets currently in Venezuelan custody. White lives in Colorado Springs, a good distance from Melbourne, Florida, where both Silvercorp and Goudreau are based. He said he broke with Goudreau over the boneheaded coup plot, telling The Grayzone he thought it sounded insane.

More Details Emerge Of The Coup Plot In Venezuela, Showing US-Guaido Involvement

Yesterday, 6 May, Venezuela announced the arrest of more members of the mercenary expeditionary force that was to carry out the coup. In a press conference with the attendance of the international media, president Maduro gave more details about the attempted coup. During the press conference, Maduro showed a video clip featuring US mercenary and former Special Forces soldier Luke Denman: one of two US mercenaries arrested as part of the mercenary force. A key aspect of this saga is the contract signed by Guaidó and his representatives with US mercenary agency Silvercorp USA, headed by former Special Forces soldier Jordan Goudreau. The contract was for carrying out a military coup, as well as capturing Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials and handing them over to the US.

Trump Rehearses The Invasion Of Venezuela

Make no mistake about it: what happened in Macuto is not an isolated incident, but rather the result of a meticulously conceived plan whose final outcome, in the feverish hallucination of those who conceived it, is the kidnapping and assassination of President Nicolas Maduro and the realization of the longed-for and elusive “regime change”. In fact, the day after the first incident in Macuto, a new mercenary collective was intercepted and subdued by the popular militias in Chuao, in the coastal region of the State of Aragua. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the Trump Administration of promoting paramilitary movements on the Venezuelan border and justifying the attacks by narco-terrorists and mercenaries in the pay of the Pentagon.

New Details Emerge Linking US To Latest Coup Attempt In Venezuela

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 country’s 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.

Venezuela: More Mercenaries Arrested

A number of mercenaries had been killed and others arrested in La Guaira on 3 May while trying to disembark in Venezuela as part of a plot against the Maduro government. On 4 May, another eight mercenaries were arrested in the coastal town of Chuao in Aragua state, amongst them two former US special forces veterans. As we explained yesterday, one of the organisers of the plot is US mercenary and former US Army Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who claims to have signed a contract with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó to organise the military incursion. Goudreau claims that Guaidó reneged on the contract and that he was never paid but decided to go ahead with the plan regardless. According to Goudreau, who is currently in Florida where he runs mercenary agency Silvercorp US, those detained or killed on Sunday in Macuto, La Guaira, were part of a larger group of 60 mercenaries, mainly Venezuelan army deserters.

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