Former Green Beret Was Behind Botched Attempt to Topple Maduro - Report

By Staff, Agencies

The ringleader of the failed coup, retired Venezuelan General Cliver Alcala, is currently behind bars in the US on narcotics charges.

The AP news agency quoted several unnamed sources as saying that a group of about 300 “heavily armed volunteers” unsuccessfully tried to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a “private coup” that was allegedly funded by US billionaires.

The sources referred to former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau's alleged involvement in the operation which was reportedly led by Cliver Alcala, ringleader of the Venezuelan military deserters. He is now in prison in the US over drug-related charges.

As for Goudreau, he retired in 2016 and is currently at the helm of Silvercorp USA, a private security firm located near his home on Florida's Space Coast, according to AP. Goudreau declined to comment on the matter, citing “the nature of our work”.

Still, AP reported, US and Colombian authorities “are asking questions” about Goudreau's role in the failed coup that followed developments in late April 2019, when “a cadre of [Venezuelan] soldiers swore loyalty to the South American country’s self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido.

According to the sources, the “private coup” stipulated 300 volunteers entering Venezuela “from the northern tip of South America”, raiding the country’s military bases and igniting a public revolt that was due to result in Maduro’s arrest.

However, an attempt to kick off an uprising “collapsed under the collective weight of skimpy planning, feuding among opposition politicians, and a poorly trained force that stood little chance of beating the Venezuelan military”, AP noted, referring to Colombian police stopping a truck carrying “a cache of brand new weapons and tactical equipment” in early March. 

In this context, the news outlet quoted former Navy SEAL Ephraim Mattos as saying that “there was no chance they [the volunteers] were going to succeed without direct US military intervention”. He added that “you're not going to take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men”.