Latin America
Related: About this forumUS mercenary exposes Trump administration links to abortive Venezuela invasion
Bill Van Auken
35 minutes ago
Senior Trump administration officials were in on the planning of and offered assistance to the abortive May 3, 2020, invasion of Venezuela carried out by a mercenary band that included at least two former US special forces operatives, according to a lawsuit filed in Miami, Florida, last Friday.
The conspiracy to carry out the illegal invasion was hatched, at least in part, at the Trump Hotel in Washington D.C. and at a Trump golf course in Florida, and was facilitated by individuals with close ties to the US president and Vice President Mike Pence.
The invasion, referred to as the Bay of Piglets due to its resemblance to the debacle suffered by the 1961 CIA-organized invasion of Cubaalbeit on a far smaller scaleended with the capture of the two American ex-soldiers, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, along with 45 Venezuelan mercenaries. At least six others were killed in a separate landing on Venezuelas northern Caribbean coast. Denman and Berry were sentenced by Venezuelan authorities to 20 years in prison on conspiracy and terrorism charges.
US mercenaries Airan Berry (circled at top) and Luke Denman (bottom) after being captured in
Venezuela.
. ..
As the captured American mercenaries acknowledged, the plan had been for the landing parties to drive to Caracas, Venezuelas capital, seize the airport and then kidnap Maduro and bundle him onto an aircraft bound for the US.
An additional previously unknown clause stipulates that in the event of the kind of fiasco that transpired, Guaidó would be free to wash his hands of the entire affair. If for any reason Project Resolute Operation does not succeed, President Guaidó will maintain deniability and be absolved from all knowledge and fault by all parties, it states.
More:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/11/03/merc-n03.html
The Magistrate
(95,244 posts)I am glad to see sworn testimony emerging which cannot be dismissed as tales told an interrogator by men in dire straits.
Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)It is a moment worth celebrating when they fail to keep it hidden entirely.
Probably the Trump origin doomed it before it was launched. He is incapable of the discipline needed for super skullduggery to succeed.
Looks as if it went something like the old highschool red-light fire drill.