Operation Gedeon, which started in the early hours of Sunday May 3 on the Venezuelan coast, has come to an end. Eight people were killed, a dozen others were arrested, including two American nationals. This is the assessment provided Sunday evening by the Venezuelan authorities, who denounce a "Attempted armed incursion" conducted by "A group of mercenaries from Colombia" and in the pay of the Americans. "Their main objective was to kill me", said President Nicolas Maduro on Monday afternoon. In Miami, Jordan Goudreau, a 43-year-old American, Afghan veteran and director of a security consultancy firm, SilverCorp USA, claims to have led Operation Gedeon.
Washington, Bogota and the Venezuelan opposition deny any contact with the character and any participation in the failed operation. The self-proclaimed deputy and president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, recognized by Wahington and sixty countries as the legitimate head of state, denounced Sunday a "Assembly fabricated from scratch" by the Chavist government, before demanding Monday "Respect for human rights and all fundamental guarantees" for inmates.
"Options exhausted"
In a country paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic and lack of gas, the facts surprised. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol announced early Sunday afternoon that the armed forces had neutralized at dawn "An attempted maritime invasion", on the coast of La Guaira, about forty kilometers from Caracas. Minister says group of mercenaries from Colombia attempted to enter Venezuela "For the purpose of committing terrorist acts".
Venezuelan opponents, who have lost count of reports by the Chavist government of attempted assassinations and coups, then suspect the power of wanting to make a diversion. Two days earlier, a mutiny in Los Llanos prison had resulted in the deaths of 47 detainees, according to an unofficial and still tentative record.
On social networks, the opposition mocks the smallness of "The supposed maritime invasion". But on Sunday afternoon, several groups of Venezuelan military deserters claimed responsibility for the "Gedeon" operation in videos published on the Twitter network by the "Carive15" account. In one of them, a captain of the National Guard, Javier Nieto, appears alongside Jordan Goudreau. "It is obvious that the electoral, democratic and political options are exhausted", explains Mr. Nieto to justify the use of weapons against "The dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro".
Training in Colombia
Mr. Goudreau explains for his part that several cells are in action, to reach, among other things, "The heart of Caracas". He calls "Venezuelans and members of the armed forces, whether officers or subordinates, to join the cause." MM. Nieto and Goudreau live in Miami. But "Venezuelan patriots" have been well trained in Colombia, according to the AP news agency.
Monday, still from an official source, two new groups of mercenaries were intercepted on the Venezuelan coast. In Chuao, a cocoa producing village in the state of Aragua, 80 km west of Caracas, eight people were arrested. Authorities released their image on the ground on the street, hands cuffed behind their backs. Among those detained are Antonio Sequea, a soldier who had participated in the aborted military uprising attempt of April 30, 2019, and Josnars Adolfo Baduel, son of General Raul Isaias Baduel, who was very close to Hugo Chavez before being imprisoned in 2009. On the public television channel VTV, Mr. Maduro presented the two arrested Americans as "Members of security" from Donald Trump.
Caracas does not exclude that other commandos are still operational. The army, which remains on alert, says it has deployed 25,000 soldiers to neutralize them. It’s a lot in a country that lives and survives in slow motion. But the Chavist authorities have not forgotten that the American justice system in March formally accused President Nicolas Maduro of narcoterrorism and that it has since offered $ 15 million (14 million euros) for his arrest.
Interviewed by the Venezuelan and American press, Mr. Goudreau said that the "Gedeon" operation had been negotiated with Mr. Guaido for $ 213 million. The opponent is said to have paid only a tiny fraction of the amount, and dropped the case en route. Caracas claims to have evidence against Mr. Guaido, accused of being "The intellectual author of Operation Gedeon". The opponent is already the subject of several judicial investigations.
