MIAMI: Police in Colombia have arrested three Venezuelans who were part of a failed plot organized by a former U.S. Green Beret to sneak across the border and oust President Nicols Maduro, The Associated Press has learned
The three were arrested in simultaneous raids early Wednesday in the capital of Bogota, a person who was in contact with the men at the time of their arrest told AP. The person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the continuing investigation, said the three were picked up on charges of arms trafficking and training to carry out illicit activities.
Two of the men, Maj. Juvenal Sequea and Capt. Juven Sequea, are the older brothers of the confessed commander of the failed May 3 incursion, Capt. Antonio Sequea, who is jailed in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The third, Rayder Ruso, is a civilian who has long sought Maduro’s overthrow.
All three lived for months in rustic camps along Colombia’s Caribbean coast where Jordan Goudreau, an American war veteran, was helping organize a volunteer army for a rapid cross-border strike against Maduro.
But the men deserted the ragtag effort, known as Operation Gideon, months before the beach assault was launched, viewing it as a suicide mission that lacked the necessary support from the U.S.
What was dubbed the Bay of Piglets after the failed 1961 invasion of Cuba by anti-communist exiles ended in a propaganda victory for Maduro with the capture of dozens of would-be combatants, including two of Goudreau’s former special forces buddies, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who quickly pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Donald Trump OK’d my murder, I am not exaggerating, and they are trying to send a group of snipers or hire snipers in Venezuela to kill me, Maduro said Tuesday, recalling the bizarre attack.
The U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaid was also linked to the plot when it was revealed that two of his aides in Miami signed last fall a 42-page contract with Goudreau’s Florida company, Silvercorp USA, to carry out regime change. The aides said they backed out of the deal before Christmas due to a mix of differences with Goudreau and a change in strategy. They said no money changed hands except $50,000 to cover Goudreau’s initial expenses.
A full telling of the plot and what, if anything, U.S. officials knew in advance has been elusive despite questions from Democrats in Congress angry over the raid.
There were media reports that a fourth person, Yacsy lvarez, who served as Goudreau’s translator and assistant in Colombia, had also been arrested Wednesday in Colombia for aiding the plot. AP was unable to confirm whether she had been arrested.
In January, lvarez flew with the three Americans from Miami to Colombia on a plane owned by her one-time boss, Franklin Durn, a wealthy businessman with a history of close ties to Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chvez. Durn was arrested in May on charges connected to the plot, including treason, rebellion, conspiracy with a foreign government and arms trafficking and terrorism.
lvarez was also an associate of Goudreaus would-be partner in arms, retired Venezuelan army Gen. Cliver Alcal, who like lvarez had been living in Colombian city of Barranquilla after breaking with Maduro and fleeing his homeland in 2018.
Alcal surrendered to U.S. authorities in March on unrelated drug charges, just a few days after Colombian police seized a cache of assault rifles, tactical helmets and night vision goggles that he said belonged to the rebel cadre that he and Goudreau were readying to bring down Maduro.
It was not clear if U.S. officials played any role in Wednesday’s arrests. But for months the FBI has been interviewing associates of Goudreau as part of their own investigation into whether he violated U.S. laws that require any U.S. company supplying weapons or military equipment, as well as military training and advice, to foreign persons to seek State Department approval.
Goudreau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
___
Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Comments
0 comment