<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-container gmail-content-width3">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<font size="1"><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/the-hybrid-war-on-venezuela-moves-to-a-new-stage-of-aggression/">https://orinocotribune.com/the-hybrid-war-on-venezuela-moves-to-a-new-stage-of-aggression/</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Hybrid War on Venezuela Moves to a New Stage of Aggression</h1></div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-line-height4 gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><strong>Let’s
put the U.S. government on the side for a moment. We know about its
long-standing goal of regime change. We all know that President Trump
has denied any U.S. involvement in the raid. That was to be expected but
not to be believed. We would like to focus on some of the implications
of this raid that come from three sources: self-appointed president Juan
Guaidó and two videos with declarations from key players.</strong></p><p>By Nino Pagliccia – May 6, 2020</p><p>
In the early morning of May 3, Venezuela witnessed the first attempt of
a raid by speedboats with armed mercenary forces on the central coast
of Venezuela, just a few kilometers from the capital city, Caracas. The
response by the Venezuelan armed forces and the almost continuous
updates about the action including photos and videos were quick.</p><p lang="en-US">Just
a couple hours later, while the defensive operation was still underway,
Venezuela’s Minister of Interior Nestor Reverol issued an initial <a href="https://youtu.be/8lbbMxJc198">statement</a>, “<em>A group of terrorist mercenaries attempted a maritime invasion, entering Venezuela with</em><em> speedboats via </em><em>the </em><em>coast</em><em> of La Guaira. Their aim was to assassinate leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution and carry out a coup.</em>”
The suggestion that the raid – already a grave act of aggression – had
such menacing consequences was not far-fetched given past attempts to
overthrow the Maduro government, including attempted assassinations.</p><p lang="en-US"><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/pompeo-on-the-failed-mercenary-incursion-in-venezuela-if-we-had-been-involved-it-would-have-gone-differently/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RELATED
CONTENT: Pompeo, on the Failed Mercenary Incursion in Venezuela: “If We
Had Been Involved it Would Have Gone Differently”</a></p><p lang="en-US">The Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino, injected inspiring words in his official <a href="http://www.minci.gob.ve/fanb-neutralizo-incursion-maritima-por-la-guaira/">communiqué</a>, “<em>The
Bolivarian National Armed Force categorically rejects these acts of
irrational violence, before which we have always been victorious in
defense of the Homeland, unfailingly clinging to the Constitution.</em>”</p><p lang="en-US">Diosdado
Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly and
vice-president of the governing party PSUV (United Socialist Party of
Venezuela), provided a <a href="http://www.minci.gob.ve/ocho-paramilitares-fallecidos-en-incursion-frustrada-por-la-guaira-desde-colombia/">conclusion</a> of the initial defensive action that ended “<em>with an unfortunate balance of eight deceased, two detained people</em><em>
who were there; a lot of significant weapons, in addition to vehicles
that they had ready to carry out actions directly on institutions and
authorities.</em>”</p><p lang="en-US">Cabello also warned of more
possible raids and launched a call to the population in general to be
watchful for any suspicious or irregular activity, particularly along
the Venezuelan coast. Consequently, the following day, on May 4, more
armed mercenaries were apprehended thanks to the quick reporting by
fishermen in the contiguous coastal area of Aragua State.</p><p lang="en-US">At
his point, two important facts are to be noticed: The prompt documented
official reporting of events, and more importantly, the consistent
concurrence on the facts from the different branches of the government,
including the population, that has been qualified as a true
civic-military-police success.</p><p lang="en-US">Full details of those facts with some analysis of the implied tactical strategies pursued by the mercenary attack can be read <a href="https://www.resumen-english.org/2020/05/a-new-frustrated-chapter-in-the-violent-war-against-venezuela/">here</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/@misionverdad2012/segunda-incursi%C3%B3n-mercenaria-contra-venezuela-en-48-horas-fracasa-en-chuao-68ccbce8fcf2">here</a> for
the May 3 and May 4 incidents, respectively. But other side stories and
revelations lead us to ask, what can we say about the coordination of
this ongoing coup attempt, the coup plotters involved, and the expected
outcome were the coup to succeed?</p><p lang="en-US">Let’s put the U.S.
government on the side for a moment. We know about its long-standing
goal of regime change. We all know that President Trump has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/05/venezuela-donald-trump-denies-link-raid-us-citizens">denied</a> any U.S. involvement in the raid. That was to be expected but not to be believed.</p><p lang="en-US"><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/shootings-in-petare-caracas-a-diversion-to-facilitate-the-mercenary-incursion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RELATED CONTENT: Shootings in Petare (Caracas) – A Diversion to Facilitate the Mercenary Incursion</a></p><p lang="en-US">We
would like to focus on some of the implications of this raid that come
from three sources: self-appointed president Juan Guaidó and two videos
with declarations from key players.</p><p lang="en-US">In a <a href="https://twitter.com/Presidencia_VE/status/1257035999760310280">tweet</a> on
May 3, Guaidó dismissed the mercenary attack as a “false flag” by the
Maduro government to hide social problems, although a day later he
changed his tune in a <a href="https://twitter.com/carlosvecchio/status/1257719903576035328">video interview</a> by
suggesting that the “dictatorship” had infiltrated the armed group.
This shows that Guaidó was not aware of the upcoming incursion on
Venezuela.</p><p lang="en-US">Further evidence that he was not part of the planning can be inferred from a <a href="https://twitter.com/Carive15/status/1257056551866642433">video</a> where
Venezuelan former National Guardsman Javier Nieto Quintero appears next
to former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau. Nieto
introduces Goudreau as a “<em>member of the special forces of the U.S. army who also runs the Florida-based </em><em>company Silvercorp USA </em><em>to provide services to</em><em> handle the</em><em> whole spectrum of crisis situations</em>”, and is <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14859">reported</a>
to “organize a military expedition aimed at ousting Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro”. The video announces the raid as part of a
so-called armed struggle, “Operation Gideon”, and is a call to the
Venezuelan military and people to join in the overthrow of the Maduro
“regime”.</p><p lang="en-US">What is striking is that in the
two-and-a-half-minute-long video, not once is there a reference to
Guaidó as the “legitimate interim president” of Venezuela and that the
incursion also intends to support his claim.</p><p lang="en-US">On the contrary, in another <a href="https://youtu.be/mGsao-iBZGk">video</a>,Goudreau is
interviewed from an undisclosed location by Miami-based Venezuelan
journalist Patricia Poleo. The main thrust of the interview revolves
around a contract shown and allegedly signed by Silvercorp’s
Jordan Goudreau, Juan Guaidó, and other representatives. The existence
of such a contract was revealed several weeks ago but never shown
before. Goudreau claims that Guaidó breached the contract by failing to
pay the convened US$1.5 million for his “services”. That was mentioned
to be the reason why “the ‘liberation’ of Venezuela was not achieved.”
But surely Goudreau must have had his eyes on the larger
multimillion-dollar “reward” promised by the Attorney General as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/nicolas-maduro-us-indictment-venezuela-drug-trafficking-leaders">bounty</a> for the capture of Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials.</p><p lang="en-US"><strong>Conclusion</strong></p><p lang="en-US">The
statements made by those who masterminded the recent mercenary armed
incursion on Venezuela – that was quickly neutralised by the Venezuelan
forces – do not seem to have had Guaidó in their minds in the event that
their hoped-for attempted coup was a success.</p><p lang="en-US">In fact, the coup plotters apparently never included Guaidó in their plans. A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-security-trump/trump-denies-u-s-role-in-what-venezuela-says-was-mercenary-incursion-idUSKBN22H1XL">news item</a> by Reuters states, “<em>In
Washington, a source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments
described the incursion as a ‘private enterprise’ and said it was not
believed to have been carried out with Guaido</em><em>’</em><em>s knowledge or approval.</em>”</p><p lang="en-US">Not
only was Guaidó absent from any consideration for involvement in the
raid or in the future Venezuela envisioned by the coup plotters, but
Guaidó was directly targeted by a disgruntled foreign mercenary claiming
that he was not paid for his “work”. This widely distributed
information was timely released by a Venezuelan journalist who is not a
supporter of Maduro but a supporter of a more radical right-wing
opposition. This can only be construed as intentionally meant to harm
Juan Guaidó in the eyes of all Venezuelans, and any claim he might have
to leading Venezuela.</p><p lang="en-US">This also occurs at a time when Guaidó seems to be <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14601">losing</a> international
support for failing to be a catalyst force among Venezuelans and
bringing the Venezuelan Army to a mass mutiny. At the same time,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-proposes-a-framework-for-a-peaceful-democratic-transition-in-venezuela/">release</a> of
a “Framework for a transition in Venezuela” seems to leave Guaidó out
of a potential new government, at least until new U.S.-suggested
presidential elections in Venezuela.</p><p lang="en-US">Behind these
events, we observe a deepening of the division in the right-wing
opposition, but a more dangerous one that Washington will gladly use to
its advantage. The escalation in Venezuela from violent riots to armed
mercenary incursions and sabotage, likely aided by the U.S. and its
proxy Colombian government, indicates that the Hybrid War on Venezuela
is moving to the next stage of aggression that might degenerate into an
armed civil confrontation. The strong and committed resistance of a
united government, its Bolivarian defense forces, and a patriotic
population can defuse the aggression. However, Venezuelans and all Latin
Americans in the region should be alert and concerned about the human
cost.</p><p><a href="http://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=1446" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Source URL: OneWorld</a></p><div><p><br></p></div><div id="gmail-mab-2223500913"><div><div><div><p><a href="https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/"> <br> </a></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>