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Trump denies U.S. role in what Venezuela says was 'mercenary' incursion


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Trump denies U.S. role in what Venezuela says was 'mercenary' incursion

By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick

 

2020-05-05T155938Z_1_LYNXMPEG4419G_RTROPTP_4_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA.JPG

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters prior to boarding Air Force One as he departs Washington for travel to Arizona at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., May 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied any involvement by the U.S. government in what Venezuelan officials have called a failed armed incursion into the South American country that led to the capture of two American "mercenaries."

 

Trump made the comment to reporters at the White House after socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday that authorities there had detained a pair of U.S. citizens working with a U.S. military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the foiled operation.

 

"We'll find out. We just heard about it," Trump said when asked about the incident and the Americans' arrests. "But it has nothing to do with our government."

 

In a state television address, Maduro said authorities arrested 13 "terrorists" on Monday involved in what he described as a plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him. Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said.

 

While echoing Trump's denial, the State Department accused the Maduro government of a "highly questionable representation of the details," saying it did not accept the account at face value and was seeking more information. It did not specify, however, what it believed had been distorted.

 

Maduro on Monday night showed what he said were the U.S. passports and other identification belonging to Airan Berry, 41, and Luke Denman, 34. He said they were in custody and had been working with Jordan Goudreau, an American military veteran who leads a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA.

 

The two detained Americans, former special operations forces members who had served with Goudreau, were believed to be in the custody of Venezuelan military intelligence, according to a person familiar with the matter.

 

Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday the alleged plot was hindered by rivalries among the participants and logistical problems, including a shortage of fuel for their boats.

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a Pentagon briefing: "The United States government had nothing to do with what's happened in Venezuela in the last few days."

 

Although the incident has reverberated through the Venezuelan news media and social media, it has done little to change the situation either for Maduro - who oversees a collapsing economy - or for the opposition, which has been unable to remove him despite heavy U.S. sanctions and broad international support.

 

Washington has waged a campaign of economic and diplomatic measures against Venezuela in an effort to oust Maduro, accusing him of having rigged elections in 2018.

 

But while Trump has repeatedly said all options are on the table, his administration has shown no apparent interest in military action. Maduro's government says the United States wants to control the OPEC member nation's massive oil reserves.

 

GUAIDO: MADURO SEEKS TO DISTRACT

Since early 2019, the United States and dozens of other countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president.

But Maduro remains in power, backed by the military as well as Russia, Cuba and China, which some U.S. officials say privately is a source of frustration for Trump.

 

Guaido - often derided by Maduro as a U.S. puppet - has cast doubt on the government's version of Sunday's events.

 

"They're trying to create a state of apparent confusion, an effort to hide what's happening in Venezuela," Guaido said in a virtual session of congress on Tuesday, citing gasoline shortages, a deadly prison riot and a violent gang battle in Caracas. The Venezuelan government is also struggling to cope with the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

 

In Washington, a source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments described the incursion as a “private enterprise” and said it was not believed to have been carried out with Guaido's knowledge or approval.

 

Accusing Maduro's government of using the incident "to justify an increased level of repression," the State Department spokesman said: "We will also be looking closely into the role of the Maduro regime in this melodrama and especially of the very large Cuban intelligence apparatus in Venezuela."

 

There was no immediate sign, however, that the U.S. and Venezuelan governments were communicating about the matter. Since the two countries broke off relations last year, the U.S. Embassy has ceased to operate in Caracas, making it harder for the governments to deal with such issues.

Monday's arrests come after Maduro's government said on Sunday it had thwarted a "mercenary incursion."

 

Goudreau released a video identifying himself as an organizer of the operation, alongside dissident Venezuelan military officer Javier Nieto.

 

Silvercorp's website describes Goudreau as a "highly decorated Special Forces Iraq and Afghanistan veteran."

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Mark Hosenball, Tim Ahmann, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington and Sarah Kinosian in Caracas; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-06
 
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3 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

So the two Americans arrested can face prosecution and  punishment under the laws of Venezuela????

why not if they have broken the laws or seem to have broken the laws of Venezuela. Americans are not free from prosecution in another country just because they are American 

 

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1 hour ago, Mick501 said:

You've always been happy to be a pawn for the Dems.  What have you suddenly got against pawns?

Ha ha hey I’m sure am a pawn in the sense of beeing just 1 person and I will be as vocal as possible to get rid of trump he’s the worst imo and as sure as thease 2 dudes will be hurt really really badly I’m glad it’s not me those guys are in deep do do without a paddle a sad situation 

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3 hours ago, Tug said:

Ha ha hey I’m sure am a pawn in the sense of beeing just 1 person and I will be as vocal as possible to get rid of trump he’s the worst imo and as sure as thease 2 dudes will be hurt really really badly I’m glad it’s not me those guys are in deep do do without a paddle a sad situation 

Keep up the good work. This place would be a dull old affair if it only had opinions from the right.  ( even though the opinions from the right are generally the sensible ones)

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Now this is a warm juicy blood trail for some good investigative journalists to follow if ever I heard one!

I imagine a bunch of rightist hawks drunk on Too much weight training,  high fiveing, gun-power and their brand of righteous patriotic Jihad really thought this a good idea.

I must go take a look at press on this ‘socialist’ dude. 

 

 

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On 5/6/2020 at 10:33 AM, Matzzon said:

And he is probably 100 % right about that. Just to look back in history and see in what countries the US are most active. Most of them have great natural resources.

After that we have Trump that denies a military operation in Venezuela. That after two americans have been captured. Amazing! He is the president over the country. The companies and the citizens is his responsibility. In other words. If he can´t control his people and it´s companies, then he can´t back out of responsibility.

 

Of course you see no problem with Russia raping Venezuela's gold and other reserves in exchange for supporting the communist dictator Maduro.

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1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Of course you see no problem with Russia raping Venezuela's gold and other reserves in exchange for supporting the communist dictator Maduro.

When did I say that i do not see any problem with that. That´s also bad and negative. What you fail to see is that one bad thing, does not make another bad thin right.

In the future, please refrain from accusations without foundation.

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The guy's an idiot, Jordan Goudreau. Special forces are great at what they do, take them out of that context; put them into a political context, and they're almost useless. I sincerely hope the CIA had nothing to do with this. There's a reason political guys are feared, like Nelson Mandela, and it's nothing to do with their ability to carry a heavy load over long distances.

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The problem is that trump lies so much that no one believes anything he says. He has no credibility even up against madauro.

 

Those guys are caught getting up to no good, they should now face their justice and pompeo has no right to ask for anything.

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