{"id":9205,"date":"2025-01-11T16:59:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T21:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=9205"},"modified":"2025-01-11T16:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T21:59:49","slug":"an-ex-green-beret-behind-a-failed-venezuela-raid-in-2020-lashes-out-at-cia-and-fbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=9205","title":{"rendered":"An Ex-Green Beret Behind a Failed Venezuela Raid in 2020 Lashes Out at CIA and FBI"},"content":{"rendered":"
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro addresses government supporters on his inauguration day at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former Green Beret accused of plotting an invasion of Venezuela<\/a><\/span> in 2020 to try to overthrow Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a><\/span> lashed out Friday at the CIA and FBI, claiming they sabotaged his efforts to oust the leftist leader. His lawyers asserted that he had the Trump administration\u2019s support for the clandestine mission.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for Jordan Goudreau stated in court filings for the first time that the decorated combat veteran had \u201cauthority from the highest levels of the executive branch\u201d for the amphibious raid that ended up with several combatants killed and two of his U.S. Special Forces colleagues in a Venezuelan prison.<\/p>\n

The filing in Tampa federal court, where Goudreau is facing weapons smuggling charges, coincided with his reappearance Friday on social media in which he claims a skittish U.S. government emboldened Maduro.<\/p>\n

The video was published as Maduro was being sworn in for a third term in office on Friday<\/a><\/span> amid rebukes from the United States and others who believe he stole last year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to congratulate the CIA and FBI on a job well done. Because of your efforts in Venezuela in 2020 to sabotage my executive-branch directed operation Nicolas Maduro is getting sworn in today,\u201d Goudreau, flashing a thumb-up sign, said in a short video on Instagram. \u201cGood job, fellas!\u201d<\/p>\n

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The CIA and FBI declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Goudreau was arrested in Manhattan on federal weapons smuggling charges<\/a><\/span> last year, in connection to the bizarre plot.<\/p>\n

Two days before the planned incursion, the AP published an investigation detailing Goudreau\u2019s efforts<\/a><\/span> to raise funds for the raid from the Trump administration, Venezuela\u2019s opposition and wealthy Americans looking to invest in Venezuela\u2019s oil industry \u2014 should Maduro be removed.<\/p>\n

The AP investigation found no evidence that the U.S. approved the invasion and U.S. officials have denied having any role in it.<\/p>\n

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The ragtag group of Venezuelan army deserters whom Goudreau allegedly helped arm<\/a><\/span> and train in neighboring Colombia went ahead with the raid, only to be scooped up by Venezuela\u2019s security forces, which had already infiltrated the group. Several were killed and two of Goudreau\u2019s former Green Beret colleagues spent years in Venezuela\u2019s prisons until a prisoner swap last year<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The raid, dubbed \u201cOperation Gideon,\u201d ended up delivering a PR coup for Maduro, who has long accused the U.S. of covert actions to destabilize his rule, and became widely ridiculed as the \u201cBay of Piglets,\u201d in reference to the 1961 Cuban fiasco.<\/p>\n

Goudreau\u2019s attorneys allege he was recruited for \u201cOperation Gideon\u201d by Keith Schiller, a longtime personal bodyguard to President-elect Donald Trump. They said Schiller, who was not employed by the U.S. government at the time, took him to a meeting with several aides of opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Miami-based attorney Marissel Descalzo said in her filing that the aides were looking for someone to assist \u201cGuaid\u00f3 with efforts to remove President Maduro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Goudreau was advised that the operation was sanctioned and approved by the executive branch, particularly Vice President Mike Pence,\u201d Descalzo wrote.<\/p>\n

The then-Trump administration had made no secret of its desire to see Maduro gone and Goudreau\u2019s one-man security firm, Florida-based Silvercorp USA, had signed a contract with Guaid\u00f3 to explore a mission to seize Maduro, who had a $15 million bounty on his head on drug trafficking charges in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration on Friday raised the reward to $25 million to protest Maduro\u2019s clinging to power.<\/p>\n

Goudreau also claims he met in Washington with two U.S. officials, one of whom briefly worked in Pence\u2019s office. The former vice president has denied any knowledge of the plot and called Goudreau\u2019s claims a complete fabrication.<\/p>\n

Guaid\u00f3’s Miami-based aides broke off all communications with Goudreau several months before the raid, saying they believe he was mentally unstable and had no support from the U.S. government for the covert operation.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration disavowed all links to the plot but Goudreau appears to hold out hope he will get a reprieve once the president-elect returns to office later this month.<\/p>\n

In an earlier video post this week, Goudreau likened his legal woes to those faced by defendants charged with invading the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for Trump to get into office and absolutely annihilate the Department of Justice,\u201d he says in that video.<\/p>\n

Filmmaker Jen Gatien, who made a documentary about Goudreau called \u201cMen at War,\u201d put up her $2 million Manhattan loft as bond to secure Goudreau\u2019s release as he prepares for trial set to begin in April. As conditions for his release, he is not allowed to leave the state of Florida, where he is residing at the home of a fellow vet.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said they plan to present DNA evidence at Goudreau\u2019s trial<\/a><\/span>, showing he handled some of the 60 weapons he allegedly smuggled from Florida to Colombia as part of the plot against Maduro.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Goudreau also spent $90,000 on a yacht he used to transport ammunition, body armor plates and magazines for AR-15 rifles.<\/p>\n

The yacht, purchased in Miami, sank in the Caribbean Sea. Goudreau and an unnamed associate were rescued by a tanker passing nearby.<\/p>\n

– Joshua Goodman, AP News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former Green Beret accused of plotting an invasion of Venezuela in 2020 to try to overthrow Nicol\u00e1s Maduro lashed out Friday at the CIA and FBI, claiming they sabotaged his efforts to oust the leftist leader. His lawyers asserted that he had the Trump administration\u2019s support for the clandestine mission. Attorneys for Jordan Goudreau stated in court filings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":9206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/c20c46e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5519x3677+0+1\/resize\/980x653!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F82%2Ff9%2F1a8e4a69b54ae032bbf43cd9d475%2Fb0dd2c78428847f59e8afbceb4a958cf","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9207,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions\/9207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}