Canadian-born mercenary says he led botched raid to overthrow Venezuelan government
Jordan Goudreau, a 43-year-old veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, runs a security firm in Florida. He said the operation involved ’60 troops
The government of President Nicolás Maduro said it had thwarted an early morning “invasion” off its Caribbean coast on Sunday, saying its intelligence forces had uncovered a plot, ambushed the attackers and captured or killed 10.
But later Sunday, former Venezuelan National Guard officer Javier Nieto Quintero and former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau released a video announcing the start of “Operation Gideon,” which they described as an effort to capture senior members of Maduro’s government, and calling on Venezuelan soldiers to join them.
Goudreau is a 43-year-old veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who runs a security firm in Florida. The Associated Press has reported that the former U.S. soldier was born in Canada.
Goudreau said by telephone late Sunday that the operation involved “60 troops,” including two former U.S. Special Forces members, who had spirited into Venezuela by land and sea. Some, he said, had already engaged Maduro’s forces. None of his claims could be immediately verified.
Goudreau said the operation’s forces had been based in Colombia’s border region, in mobile camps where Venezuelan military defectors had been living. He would not confirm the location where the video released Sunday was shot. Goudreau and Nieto Quintero live in Florida.
Goudreau said he had sought U.S. government backing for the effort but was unsuccessful. He angrily claimed that he had discussed cooperation with the mainstream Venezuelan opposition but that the opposition pulled out.
“Nothing I’m doing is illegal,” Goudreau said. “There are other people in the country who are ready to flip. They just need a catalyst.”
Maduro’s government officials said eight people were killed and two were captured in a predawn maritime incursion near the port city of La Guaira, about 18 miles from Caracas. Images broadcast on state television showed a cache of seized equipment including weapons and a helmet emblazoned with an American flag.
full story at https://nationalpost.com/news/world/canadian-born-mercenary-says-he-led-botched-raid-to-overthrow-venezuelan-government