Venezuela: Two Americans arrested for "attempted armed invasion"

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The Venezuelan president declared on Monday May 4 that the authorities had captured 13 "terrorists", including two American nationals whom he qualified as mercenaries, for their alleged involvement in a failed attempt at an armed incursion intended according to him to drive him out of the country. power.

Publicity

In a television address on the state-run VTV channel, Nicolas Maduro directly accused Juan Guaido. For the Venezuelan president, the leader of the opposition recruited "mercenaries" of the US special forces to try to "invade" the country in order to overthrow his government. Nicolas Maduro then showed the passports of the two Americans, Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. Employees of Silvercorp, he said, a Florida-based security company whose boss claimed responsibility for the attempted raid.

Informed al pueblo sobre the Operación Militar Negro Primero, “Aplastamiento del Enemigo”, that llevamos adelante en unión cívico – militar – policial para enfrentar las agresiones del imperio de EE.UU. y la oligarquía colombiana que pretende llenar de sangre nuestro suelo sagrado. pic.twitter.com/mz2wcqhJHZ

Jordan Goudreau told Reuters earlier Monday that two American nationals working alongside him were detained by Venezuelan authorities. "  These are my guys  " ,  said by phone this former soldier in the US Army, confirming their identity. According to the Silvercorp company website, Goudreau is a "highly decorated veteran of the US special forces" who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fighters on Venezuelan soil

This Sunday, the Venezuelan government announced that mercenaries had tried to enter the country via fast boats from Colombia, denouncing a maneuver supported by the United States.

Goudreau then published a video in which he claimed to have organized an incursion in collaboration with a dissident officer of the Venezuelan army, Javier Nieto, and that combatants on the ground continued to conduct operations in different points of Venezuela.

Guaido denounces a diversion

No comments were immediately obtained from the State Department in Washington on the alleged arrests. US officials had previously rejected any government involvement in the incursion reported by Caracas.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido has questioned the government's accusations, stressing that Nicolas Maduro was looking to look away when events have bloodied Caracas in recent days - a murderous prison riot and gang clashes criminals.

Guaido's communications team denied press reports that the leader of the opposition had called on Silvercorp to oust Nicolas Maduro from power.

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• Venezuela
• United States
• Nicolas Maduro
• Juan Guaido