After Military Fiasco: Mercenaries in Venezuela on Trial, Guaidó Faces Criticism

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In Venezuela, several individuals were brought to court on Friday after a failed military operation under the code name “Gideon” against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Among the defendants are two US citizens who worked for a mercenary company based in the state of Florida.

The Attorney General’s Office of the South American country applied for arrest warrants for the Venezuelan political advisors Juan José Rendón and Sergio Vergara and the US American Jordan Goudreau. They are accused of involvement in the planning, financing, and execution of an attempted coup.

Goudreau is the owner of the US security company Silvercorp, which, according to the Washington Post and the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office, had signed an agreement with the self-appointed “interim president” Juan Guaidó. However, Guaidó apparently subsequently unilaterally terminated the agreement. Vergara acted as his special envoy and Rendón is regarded as the opposition politician’s main strategic advisor.

Rendón has a relevant history: in 2012 he was said to have tried to manipulate the presidential elections in Mexico. Two years later he was forced to resign as campaign chief of then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos because he was suspected of having accepted bribes worth millions from drug lords.

“Given the fact that they are out of the country, we will apply for an Interpol arrest warrant and their extradition to Venezuela,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced in the capital Caracas.

Both had stated in a television interview that their plan consisted in killing Venezuelans. Their crimes should not go unpunished, the chief Prosecutor stated. Saab reported that a total of 31 people, including mercenaries and accomplices, have now been indicted for landing on the Venezuelan coast.

The military operation was thwarted last Sunday and Monday. Further arrests are reported almost daily from Venezuela, allegedly in connection with the failed paramilitary operation.

The Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Vladímir Padrino López, has issued an order stating that “within the framework of Operation Bolivarian Shield” patrols and controls will continue throughout the country “to guarantee the nation’s freedom, sovereignty, and independence”.

Latin American media reported that in the early hours of Saturday, the Bolivarian National Guard detected “three combat vessels bearing emblems of the Colombian Navy” on the Orinoco River in the eastern state of Bolívar. According to a statement by the armed forces, the abandoned vessels were “equipped with 50 mm and M-60 machine guns and ammunition”. This material will enable the prosecutor’s office and other Venezuelan state authorities to conduct further investigations.

The right-wing opposition party First Justice (Primero Justicia, PJ), on Friday called on Guaidó to dismiss his staff involved in Operation Gideon. In a press release, the group rejected any kind of external interference in Venezuela’s affairs. According to the party, these are actions that “ultimately frustrate our people” and prevent political change, while contradicting Guaidó’s assertion that the operation was a plot set up by the Maduro government.