The scene seems to be borrowed from the script of an action film. In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro announced the arrest of fifteen people, including two Americans, for an attempt to "invade" the country by sea. The prosecution accuses his opponent Juan Guaido of having recruited "mercenaries".
On the public channel VTV, Nicolas Maduro presented the two arrested Americans as "members of the security" of the President of the United States Donald Trump. He brandished the passports of the two suspects, presented as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. Earlier Monday, the Venezuelan prosecution had accused opposition leader Juan Guaido of recruiting "mercenaries" with funds from the oil country blocked by US sanctions, to foment an attempt to "invade" the country.
A mysterious security company
"Mercenaries" signed "contracts" for 212 million dollars with money "stolen from (the state oil company) PDVSA" and "accounts belonging (to Caracas) which were blocked abroad "Attorney General Tarek William Saab said to the press, implicating a former American soldier by the name of Jordan Goudreau.
“This contract is public. We can see the signature (…) of citizen Juan Guaido ”and of“ Jordan Goudreau himself ”, he affirmed in reference to a document allegedly revealed by a Venezuelan journalist based in Miami, Patricia Poleo. The prosecutor also released a video where Jordan Goudreau, who founded a private security company called Silvercorp USA, says an operation against Nicolas Maduro is underway.
Donald Trump's fault
The president assigned responsibility for the plan to Donald Trump and Colombian President Ivan Duque and said that Denman and Berry are linked to the company. Two people were arrested on Sunday and thirteen others on Monday, he said. Juan Guaido rejected the accusations on Monday, denying any link with this security company. The prosecution has opened several investigations against Juan Guaido, recognized as interim president by almost sixty countries, without issuing an arrest warrant.
This alleged "invasion" attempt comes just over a year after Juan Guaido's call for an army uprising. On April 30, 2019, he tried, in vain, to encourage the barracks to rebel against the “usurper” Nicolas Maduro. The Chavista government regularly accuses Juan Guaido of being involved in "plots" against the Socialist president, with the help of Colombia and the United States.
World
The United States has charged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with "narcoterrorism"
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- Venezuela
- Juan Guaidó
- Nicolas Maduro