Venezuela: Guaidó Granted US Mercenaries Carte Blanche for Use of “Deadly Force”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In Venezuela, during an operation in the former German settlement of Colonia Tovar in the state of Aragua, security authorities arrested three additional members of the army who are said to have been involved in a failed military operation in the north of the country on May 3rd.

The suspects Jairo B., Franco J., and Evan R. have been brought before a judge.

“The arrest of these deserters is part of an operation by state security forces to capture participants in the failed mercenary operation aimed at staging a coup d’état and assassinating President Nicolás Maduro,” reported the Latin American television station Telesur, which holds a pro-government position in Venezuela.

According to the Venezuelan police, operations to search and arrest other participants in the military action are ongoing. To date, some two dozen people have been arrested in connection with the May 3rd events, including two former members of the US Green Berets special forces, both with connections to Germany.

Meanwhile, President Maduro’s government is intensifying its criticism of the political leadership of neighboring Colombia. Reliable evidence of involvement of the governments of Colombia and the United States in the attempted coup has been reported from Caracas.

Both these governments support Juan Guaidó, Member of the National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president. A close advisor to Guaidó has confirmed that he had signed a comprehensive contract with the US mercenary company Silvercorp.

The aim was to bring down the Maduro government and initiate a change of regime. However, the US daily Washington Post published the complete version of the contract between Silvercorp and Guaidó. Negotiations on the agreement were initiated last year and were sometimes difficult.

Nevertheless, the 40+ page appendixes to the agreement were finally signed, writes Ana Vanessa Herrero, who co-authored the Washington Post report. Her editorial team previously verified a seven-page version of the agreement, which had been submitted to her by Silvercorp founder Jordan Goudreau.

The mercenary entrepreneur, who in the meantime has allegedly fallen out with Guaidó, also leaked a secretly recorded video showing the self-appointed interim president approving the contract to the US daily. “We are doing the right thing for our country here, I will sign it,” said the opposition politician.

But now the actual arrangements of the leaked document are placing a massive burden on Guaidó and his supporters.

In the course of a takeover of power, the US mercenaries planned to cooperate with the special units (Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales, FAES) and other security agencies. Of all people, the opposition around Guaidó repeatedly called the FAES a death squad.

In another section of the contract, Silvercorp was promised by Guaidó to use Claymore M18A1 anti-personnel mines. The use of these weapons is outlawed by the Ottawa Convention, which Venezuela has signed and ratified. The now published coup agreement also assured the mercenary troops free use of “deadly force to protect designated individuals and military personnel”.

The contract also contains detailed information on the payment terms. In the event that the newly enthroned government is not solvent, they could also pay Silvercorp with Venezuelan oil, it says in the relevant passage.

Meanwhile, US journalist Adam Housley reported on Twitter on the wife of one of the imprisoned US mercenaries, Airan Berry, who lives in Schweinfurt, Bavaria. “My daughter, my son, and I were happy to see my husband relatively unscathed on Venezuelan television,” he quotes Melanie Berry. Her main concern now is that he will continue to be treated humanely while he is in Venezuela.

Airan Berry has lived in Schweinfurt for years. In Germany, he apparently also met with another US military officer now imprisoned in Venezuela, Luke Denman, and Goudreau. Berry and Denman were stationed with US troops in Germany. Berry’s wife runs a furniture store in Schweinfurt, together with her mother, Jutta Schmid, a local politician for the CSU, who had unsuccessfully run for Schweinfurt city council in March.

Also of note are the arrests in the former German settlement Colonia Tovar, whose representatives enjoy solid connections to conservative parties in Germany. In 2016, representatives of the now largely insignificant Venezuelan opposition alliance Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) visited Germany to mobilize political support.

The visit, which had been organized by the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the CDU Member of Parliament Peter Weiss, also served to foster contacts with Colonia Tovar. The six members of the Venezuelan National Parliament officially came to Germany primarily because of the historical relations of the city of Endingen with Colonia Tovar.

The group included Marialbert Barrios, Iván Stalin Gonzalez, Freddy Guevara, Juan Miguel Matheus, Angel Medina, and Miguel Pizarro. They are all still active opponents of the Maduro government.