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by Ralph R. Ortega
May 02, 2020
from
DailyMail Website
A secret military operation led by an ex-Green Beret
and
funded by US billionaires to
ouster
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros
has
failed while still in the planning stages
-
A secret military operation to overthrow Venezuelan
dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros has fallen apart
-
The operation failed due to skimpy planning, feuding
among opposition politicians and a poorly trained
force
-
The ringleader, retired Venezuelan General Cliver
Alcalá, is now jailed in the US on narcotics charges
-
Meanwhile, authorities in the US and Colombia are
asking questions about the role of Alcalá's American
adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau
How an
ex-Green Beret organized a 'private coup' funded by US billionaires
to remove Venezuela's Maduro and trained 300 soldiers in Colombia
before it spectacularly fell apart
A secret military
operation to overthrow Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros
was simple, but perilous.
Some 300 heavily armed volunteers would sneak into Venezuela from
the northern tip of South America. Along the way, they would raid
military bases in the socialist country and ignite a popular
rebellion that would end in President Nicolás Maduro's arrest.
What could go wrong? As it turns out, pretty much everything.
The ringleader of the plot is now jailed in the US on narcotics
charges. Authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions
about the role of his muscular American adviser, former Green Beret
Jordan Goudreau.
And dozens of desperate combatants who flocked to secret training
camps in Colombia said they have been left to fend for themselves
amid
the coronavirus pandemic...
After the operation fell apart,
authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions
about the role of a muscular American adviser,
former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau (center)
The failed attempt to start 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.
'You're not going to
take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men,' said Ephraim
Mattos, a former US Navy SEAL who trained some of the would-be
combatants in tactical medicine.
This bizarre, untold
story of a call to arms that crashed before it launched is drawn
from interviews with more than 30 Maduro opponents and aspiring
freedom fighters who were directly involved in or familiar with its
planning.
Most spoke on condition
of anonymity, fearing retaliation.
When hints of the conspiracy surfaced last month, the Maduro-controlled
state media portrayed it as an invasion ginned up by the CIA, like
the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco of 1961.
An Associated Press
investigation found no evidence of US government involvement in the
plot.
Nevertheless, interviews
revealed that leaders of Venezuela's US-backed opposition knew of
the covert force, even if they dismissed its prospects.
Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019 barracks
revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be
replacement, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognized by
the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader.
Contrary to US expectations at the time, key Maduro aides never
joined with the opposition and the government quickly quashed the
uprising.
Planning for the incursion began after an
April
30, 2019 barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers
who
swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement,
Juan
Guaidó, the opposition leader (pictured)
recognized by the US and some 60 other nations
as
Venezuela's rightful leader
A few weeks later, some soldiers and politicians involved in the
failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota,
Colombia.
The hotel was a
center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles...
For this occasion,
conference rooms were reserved for what one participant described as
the 'Star Wars summit of anti-Maduro goofballs' - military deserters
accused of drug trafficking, shady financiers and former Maduro
officials seeking redemption.
Among those angling in the open lobby was Goudreau, an
American citizen and three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in
Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special
forces, according to five people who met with the former soldier.
Soldiers and politicians involved in a failed rebellion
retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia (pictured).
The
hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles
Goudreau, a three-time Bronze Star recipient
for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan,
where he served as a medic in US Army special forces,
was among those who showed up at the hotel
Those he interacted with in the US and Colombia described him in
interviews alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and
a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head.
Two former special forces colleagues said Goudreau was always at the
top of his class: a cell leader with a superb intellect for handling
sources, an amazing shot and a devoted mixed martial arts fighter
who still cut his hair high and tight.
At the end of an otherwise distinguished military career, the
Canadian-born Goudreau was investigated in 2013 for allegedly
defrauding the Army of $62,000 in housing stipends.
Those Goudreauy interacted with in the US and Colombia
described him alternately as a freedom-loving patriot,
a
mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle
and in
way over his head.
He is
pictured posing with a World War II veteran
in an
image from Instagram
Goudreau said the investigation was closed with no charges.
After retiring in 2016, he worked as a private security contractor
in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
In 2018, he set up
Silvercorp
USA, a private security firm, near his home on Florida's Space
Coast to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as
teachers.
The company's website features photos and videos of Goudreau firing
machine guns in battle, running shirtless up a pyramid, flying on a
private jet and sporting a military backpack with a rolled-up
American flag.
Silvercorp's website touts operations in more than 50 countries,
with an advisory team made up of former diplomats, experienced
military strategists and heads of multinational corporations - none
of them named.
It claims to have 'led
international security teams' for the president of the United
States.
After retiring in 2016, Goudreau worked
as a
private security contractor in Puerto Rico
following Hurricane Maria.
In
2018, he set up Silvercorp USA (pictured),
a
private security firm, near his home in Florida
to
embed counter-terror agents
in
schools disguised as teachers
An image of Goudreau
leading a training exercise
for his company, Silvercorp USA
Goudreau, 43, declined to be interviewed.
In a written statement, he said ,
'Silvercorp cannot
disclose the identities of its network of sources, assets and
advisors due to the nature of our work' and, more generally,
'would never confirm nor deny any activities in any operational
realm. No inference should be drawn from this response.'
'Controlling
chaos'
Goudreau's focus on Venezuela started in February 2019, when he
worked security at a concert in support of Guaidó organized by
British billionaire
Richard Branson on the
Venezuelan-Colombian border.
'Controlling chaos on
the Venezuela border where a dictator looks on with
apprehension,' he wrote in a photo of himself on the concert
stage posted to his Instagram account.
Goudreau's focus on Venezuela
began
in February 2019, when he worked security
at a
concert in support of Guaidó.
Goudreau is seen working the concert
in a
picture posted on Instagram
'Controlling chaos on the Venezuela border
where a dictator looks on with apprehension,'
wrote Goudreau in an Instagram post
of the concert (pictured),
dubbed 'Venezuelan Aid Live'
The concert in support of Guaidó
was organized by British billionaire Richard Branson
on the Venezuelan-Colombian border.
Branson is pictured at the Feb. 22, 2019 event
'He was always
chasing the golden BB,' said Drew White, a former business
partner at Silvercorp, using military slang for a
one-in-a-million shot.
White said he broke with
his former special forces comrade last fall when Goudreau asked for
help raising money to fund his regime change initiative.
'As supportive as you
want to be as a friend, his head wasn't in the world of
reality,' said White. 'Nothing he said lined up.'
According to White,
Goudreau came back from the concert looking to capitalize on the
Trump administration's growing interest in toppling Maduro.
He had been introduced to
Keith Schiller, President
Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard, through someone who
worked in private security.
Schiller attended a March
2019 event at the University Club in Washington for potential donors
with activist Lester Toledo, then Guaidó's coordinator for
the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Goudreau came back from the concert
looking to capitalize on the Trump administration's
growing interest in toppling Maduro.
Through a friend who works in private security,
Goudreau was introduced to Keith Schiller (left),
President Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard
Schiller attended a March 2019 event
at the University Club in Washington D.C.
for potential donors with activist Lester Toledo (center),
then Guaidó's coordinator
for the delivery of 'humanitarian aid'
Last May, Goudreau accompanied Schiller to a meeting in Miami with
representatives of Guaidó.
There was a lively
discussion with Schiller about the need to beef up security for
Guaidó and his growing team of advisers inside Venezuela and across
the world, according to a person familiar with the meeting.
Schiller thought Goudreau was naive and in over his head. He cut off
all contact following the meeting, said a person close to the former
White House official.
In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau to a rebellious
former Venezuelan military officer the American would come to trust
above all others -
Cliver Alcalá, ringleader of
the Venezuelan military deserters.
Alcalá, a retired major general in Venezuela's army, seemed an
unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland.
In 2011, he was
sanctioned by the US for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in
Colombia with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine.
And last month, Alcalá
was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro as one of the
architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy that allegedly sent
250 metric tons of cocaine every year to the US.
Alcalá is now in federal custody in New York awaiting trial.
But before his surrender
in Colombia, where he had been living since 2018, he had emerged as
a forceful opponent of Maduro, not shy about urging military force.
In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau
to a rebellious former Venezuelan military officer
the American would come to trust above all others
- Cliver Alcalá (pictured), ringleader of
the Venezuelan military deserters
Alcalá, a retired major general in Venezuela's army,
seemed an unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland.
In 2011, he was sanctioned by the US
for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in Colombia
with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine
Alcalá was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro
as one of the architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy
that allegedly sent 250 metric tons of cocaine every year
to the US. Alcalá is now in federal custody in New York
awaiting trial. Pictured is Alcalá's wanted poster
Over two days of meetings with Goudreau and Toledo at the JW
Marriott, Alcalá explained how he had selected 300
combatants from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers who
abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia in the early days of Guaidó's
uprising, said three people who participated in the meeting and
insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
Alcalá said several dozen men were already living in three camps he
maintained in and around the desert-like La Guajira peninsula that
Colombia shares with Venezuela, the three said.
Among the combatants in
the camps was an exiled national guardsman accused of participating
in a 2018 drone attack on Maduro.
Alcalá selected 300 combatants
from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers
who abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia
in the early days of Guaidó's uprising.
Alcalá said several dozen men in camps
were already living on
La Guajira peninsula Venezuela (pictured)
Goudreau told Alcalá his company could prepare the men for battle,
according to the three sources.
The two sides discussed
weapons and equipment for the volunteer army, with Goudreau
estimating a budget of around $1.5 million for a rapid strike
operation.
Goudreau told participants at the meeting that he had high-level
contacts in the Trump administration who could assist the effort,
although he offered few details, the three people said.
Over time, many of the
people involved in the plan to overthrow Maduro would come to doubt
his word.
From the outset, the audacious plan split an opposition coalition
already sharply divided by egos and strategy. There were concerns
that Alcalá, with a murky past and ties to the regime through a
brother who was Maduro's ambassador to Iran, couldn't be trusted.
Others worried about
going behind the backs of their Colombian allies and the US
government.
But Goudreau didn't share the concerns about Alcalá, according to
two people close to the former American soldier.
Over time, he would come
to share Alcalá's mistrust of the opposition, whose talk of
restoring democracy was belied by what he saw as festering
corruption and closed-door deal making with the regime, they said.
More importantly to Goudreau, Alcalá retained influence in the armed
forces that Maduro's opponents, mostly civilian elites, lacked.
He also knew the terrain,
having served as the top commander along the border.
'We needed someone
who knew the monster from the inside,' recalled one exiled
former officer who joined the plot.
Guaidó's envoys,
including Toledo, ended contact with Goudreau after the Bogota
meeting because they believed it was a suicide mission, according to
three people close to the opposition leader.
Undeterred, Goudreau returned to Colombia with four associates, all
of them US combat veterans, and began working directly with Alcalá.
Alcalá and Goudreau revealed little about their military plans when
they toured the camps.
Some of the would-be combatants were told by the two men that the
rag-tag army would cross the border in a heavily armed convoy and
sweep into Caracas within 96 hours, according to multiple soldiers
at the camps.
Goudreau told the
volunteers that - once challenged in battle - Maduro's
food-deprived, demoralized military would collapse like dominoes,
several of the soldiers said.
No chance to
succeed
Many saw the plan as foolhardy and there appears to have been no
serious attempt to seek US military support.
'There was no chance
they were going to succeed without direct US military
intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos, the former Navy SEAL who
spent two weeks in September training the volunteers in basic
tactical medicine on behalf of his non-profit, Stronghold Rescue
& Relief, which works in combat zones.
'There was no chance they were going to succeed
without
direct US military intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos,
a
former Navy SEAL (pictured) who spent
two
weeks in September training Goudreau's volunteers
in
basic tactical medicine
Ephraim Mattos visited the
camps after hearing about them from a friend working in Colombia. He
said he never met Goudreau.
Mattos said he was surprised by the barren conditions. There was no
running water and men were sleeping on the floors, skipping meals
and training with sawed-off broomsticks in place of assault rifles.
Five Belgian shepherds
trained to sniff out explosives were as poorly fed as their handlers
and had to be given away.
Mattos said he grew wary as the men recalled how Goudreau had
boasted to them of having protected Trump and told them he was
readying a shipment of weapons and arranging aerial support for an
eventual assault of Maduro's compound.
The volunteers also shared with Mattos a three-page document listing
supplies needed for a three-week operation, which he provided to AP.
Items included 320 M4
assault rifles, an anti-tank rocket launcher, Zodiac boats, $1
million in cash and state-of-the-art night vision goggles.
The document's metadata
indicates it was created by Goudreau on June 16.
'Unfortunately,
there's a lot of cowboys in this business who try to peddle
their military credentials into a big pay day,' said Mattos.
Mattos (pictured) visited the camps
after hearing about them from a friend
working in Colombia.
He said he never met Goudreau
AP found no indication US officials sponsored Goudreau's actions nor
that Trump has authorized covert operations against Maduro,
something that requires congressional notification.
But Colombian authorities were aware of his movements, as were
prominent opposition politicians in Venezuela and exiles in Bogota,
some of whom shared their findings with US officials, according to
two people familiar with the discussions.
True to his reputation as a self-absorbed loose cannon, Alcalá
openly touted his plans for an incursion in a June meeting with
Colombia's National Intelligence Directorate and appealed for their
support, said a former Colombian official familiar with the
conversation.
Alcalá also boasted about
his relationship with Goudreau, describing him as a former CIA
agent.
When the Colombians checked with their CIA counterparts in Bogota,
they were told that the former Green Beret was never an agent.
Alcalá was then told by his hosts to stop talking about an invasion
or face expulsion, the former Colombian official said.
It's unclear where Alcalá and Goudreau got their backing, and
whatever money was collected for the initiative appears to have been
meager.
One person who allegedly
promised support was Roen Kraft, an eccentric descendant of
the
cheese-making family who - along
with former Trump bodyguard Schiller - was among those meeting with
opposition envoys in Miami and Washington.
It's unclear where
Alcalá
and Goudreau (pictured) got their backing,
and
whatever money was collected for the initiative
appears
to have been meager
At some point, Kraft started raising money among his own circle of
fellow trust-fund friends for what he described as a 'private
coup' to be carried out by Silvercorp, according to two
businessmen who he asked for money.
Kraft allegedly lured prospective donors with the promise of
preferential access to negotiate deals in the energy and mining
sectors with an eventual Guaidó government, said one of the
businessmen.
He provided AP a
two-page, unsigned draft memorandum for a six-figure commitment he
said was sent by Kraft in October in which he represents himself as
the 'prime contractor' of Venezuela.
But it was never clear if Kraft really had the inside track with the
Venezuelans.
In a phone interview with AP, Kraft acknowledged meeting with
Goudreau three times last year. But he said the two never did any
business together and only discussed the delivery of humanitarian
aid for Venezuela.
He said Goudreau broke
off all communications with him on Oct. 14, when it seemed he was
intent on a military action.
'I never gave him any
money,' said Kraft.
'We knew
everything'
Back in Colombia, more recruits were arriving to the three camps -
even if the promised money didn't.
Goudreau tried to bring a
semblance of order. Uniforms were provided, daily exercise routines
intensified and Silvercorp instructed the would-be warriors in close
quarter combat.
Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,'
said
Hernán Alemán, a lawmaker from
western Zulia state and one of a few politicians to openly embrace
the clandestine mission.
Alemán said in an interview that neither the US nor the Colombian
governments were involved in the plot to overthrow Maduro.
He claims he tried to
speak several times to Guaidó about the plan but said the opposition
leader showed little interest.
Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,'
said Hernán Alemán (pictured), a lawmaker from western Zulia state
and one of a few politicians to openly embrace the clandestine
mission.
'Lots of people knew about it, but they didn't support us,' he
said. 'They were too afraid.'
The plot quickly crumbled
in early March when one of the volunteer combatants was arrested
after sneaking across the border into Venezuela from Colombia.
Shortly after, Colombian police stopped a truck transporting a cache
of brand new weapons and tactical equipment worth around $150,000,
including spotting scopes, night vision goggles, two-way radios and
26 American-made assault rifles with the serial numbers rubbed off.
Fifteen brown-colored
helmets were manufactured by
High-End Defense Solutions, a
Miami-based military equipment vendor owned by a Venezuelan
immigrant family.
High-End Defense Solutions is the same company that Goudreau
visited in November and December, allegedly to source weapons,
according to two former Venezuelan soldiers who claim to have helped
the American select the gear but later had a bitter falling out with
Goudreau amid accusations that they were moles for Maduro.
Company owner Mark Von Reitzenstein did not respond to
repeated email and phone requests seeking comment.
Alcalá claimed ownership of the weapons shortly before surrendering
to face the US drug charges, saying they belonged to the 'Venezuelan
people.'
He also lashed out
against Guaidó, accusing him of betraying a contract signed between
his 'American advisers' and J.J. Rendon, a political
strategist in Miami appointed by Guaidó to help force Maduro from
power.
'We had everything
ready,' lamented Alcalá in a video published on social media.
'But circumstances
that have plagued us throughout this fight against the regime
generated leaks from the very heart of the opposition, the part
that wants to coexist with Maduro.'
Through a spokesman,
Guaidó stood by comments made to Colombian media that he never
signed any contract of the kind described by Alcalá, who he said he
doesn't know.
Rendon said his work for
Guaidó is confidential and he would be required to deny any
contract, whether or not it exists.
Meanwhile, Alcalá has offered no evidence and the alleged contract
has yet to emerge, though AP repeatedly asked Goudreau for a copy.
In the aftermath of Alcalá's arrest, the would-be insurrection
appears to have disbanded.
As the coronavirus
spreads, several of the remaining combatants have fled the camps and
fanned out across Colombia, reconnecting with loved ones and
figuring out their next steps.
Most are broke, facing
investigation by Colombian police and frustrated with Goudreau, who
they blame for leading them astray.
Meanwhile, the socialist leadership in Caracas couldn't help but
gloat.
Diosdado Cabello, the No. 2
most powerful person in the country and eminence grise of
Venezuela's vast intelligence network, insisted that the government
had infiltrated the plot for months.
'We knew
everything,' said Cabello.
'Some of their
meetings we had to pay for. That's how infiltrated they
were.'
Diosdado Cabello, the No. 2 most powerful person in the country
and
eminence grise of Venezuela's vast intelligence network,
insisted that the government had infiltrated the plot for months.
'We knew everything,' said Cabello
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