Trump Denies Ties to Americans Linked to Venezuela “Coup Plot”

By Staff, Agencies

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States government had nothing to do with an alleged incursion into Venezuela that landed two US citizens behind bars in the crisis-stricken South American country.

Trump said he had just learned of the detention of the pair, accused by Venezuela of being mercenaries. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said they were part of an operation to kill him that was backed by neighboring Colombia and the US.

“Whatever it is, we'll let you know,” Trump told reporters in Washington, DC, before departing from the White House to Arizona. “But it has nothing to do with our government”.

Maduro said: “The United States government is fully and completely involved in this defeated raid" and praised members of a fishing village for cornering one group and netting the "professional American mercenaries”.

US Secretary of War Mark Esper echoed Trump's comments later on Tuesday, saying “The United States government had nothing to do with what's happened in Venezuela in the last few days”.

Authorities in Venezuela identified the two detained men as Luke Denman and Airan Berry, both former US Special Forces soldiers associated with the Florida-based private security firm Silvercorp USA.

A third US ex-Green Beret and Silvercorp founder, Jordan Goudreau, claimed responsibility for leading "Operation Gideon", which was launched with an attempted beach landing before dawn on Sunday that left eight suspected attackers dead.

The two former US soldiers were detained on Monday dozens of kilometers from the first attempted beach landing in a fishing village. Authorities say they confiscated equipment and detained dozens of others.

Goudreau said the operation was designed to capture – and not kill Maduro. He said he carried it out on a “shoestring budget” after signing an agreement with US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who Goudreau accuses of failing to pay him. Guaido denies having any relationship with Goudreau.

Venezuela and the US broke diplomatic ties a year ago, so there is no US embassy operating in Venezuela's capital of Caracas.