RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Venezuelan government believes that the leading opposition politician and member of the National Parliament, Juan Guaidó, has entered into an agreement with the private US security company Silvercorp, which is said to have involved military action to overthrow the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
This was confirmed by Jorge Rodriguez, Vice-President for Communication, Tourism, and Culture, in a press conference broadcast from the Miraflores Presidential Palace. For days now, copies of an alleged agreement have been circulating on the internet, bearing the signatures of Guaidó and the owner of the security company, Jordan Goudreau, and other people who are said to be behind the coup plans since the start of 2019.
Goudreau is a former, multiple-decorated member of the US Army’s Special Forces with deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Venezuelan journalist Patricia Poleo, who is critical of President Nicolás Maduro’s government, published details of a relationship between Venezuela’s opposition leader and Silvercorp a few days ago. In a recent interview on the news channel Factores De Poder in Miami, she interviewed the owner of Silvercorp, who confirmed the authenticity of the contract.
Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in early 2019, had his circle deny any connection to the US mercenary company. A “statement by the legitimate government of Venezuela” states that there is no connection between Guaidó and Silvercorp.
However, according to research by the US news agency Associated Press, among others, this connection did exist and dates back to February 2019.
At that time, Goudreau was hired as a security officer for a concert on the Colombian-Venezuelan border that Guaidó had organized with the help of British billionaire Richard Branson, as a means of mobilizing a movement to overthrow the Maduro government.
An explanation for these contradictory statements could be that a clash between Guaidó and the paramilitarily organized coup forces in Colombian training camps occurred at a later date.
What is striking is that the intelligence that is causing embarrassment to Guaidó comes from those who are also working to overthrow Maduro.
In his interview at Factores De Poder, the owner of Silvercorp said that the agreement with Guaidó had guaranteed the financing of coup operations to the tune of US$213 million. However, these funds were not received.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government wants to prove that the link remained intact until last weekend’s failed paramilitary invasion.
To this end, Minister of Communications Rodriguez submitted audio recordings of a conversation between Guaidó, commissioner Sergio Vergara and Goudreau at a press conference. However, these sources could not yet be independently verified.
Guaidó insists on describing the weekend’s invasion attempt as “staged by Maduro”. Simultaneously, he called on the authorities to respect the human rights of those arrested during the paramilitary operation.
Guaidó also blames Maduro for “the chaos” in the South American country. “Maduro means chaos,” according to statements by the self-appointed interim president.
Guaidó reiterates other events that took place almost simultaneously with the attempted invasion of the border: a bloody prison riot in Guanare in the state of Portuguesa that left 45 people dead, armed clashes in the poor quarter of Petare in Caracas, and a widespread power cut in several states of the country.
According to him, only the establishment of a “national emergency government, supported by 40 countries around the world” could end the chaos. Guaidó is referring to the recent initiative of the US government to overthrow Maduro.