Judging by the monstrous scandal that is unfolding in Venezuela, the U.S. very much wanted to take advantage of the chaos of the coronavirus and organize a small bloody and successful “color revolution” that would have led to the pro-American opposition on the bayonets of American mercenaries.
Americans are not just accused of this, they are literally caught by the hand: two American employees of PMCs have been detained by Venezuelan security forces and are already presented to the public, and the U.S. media pitifully tell that the sponsors left their soldiers to good luck and the coronavirus – either in the Colombian camps or in the Venezuelan jungle. The country, which is accustomed to accusing Russia of illegal use of private military companies for geopolitical purposes, has itself found itself at the center of a scandal associated with the failure of a private military operation, but, as always, does not want to admit anything. This, of course, does not tell us anything new about the moral qualities of our American partners, who have always had a tendency to use the corpses of their victims as tribunes for sermons about morality, democracy and human rights. But this is very important information from a different point of view: Washington, even having armed itself with a dollar printing press and armed to the teeth a group of selected (without irony) military professionals, what is called, could not score a goal at an empty gate – that is, could not organize a putsch in a country weakened by a sharp drop in oil prices, sanctions and the Coronavirus epidemic. That doesn’t mean that the U.S. has ceased to be a dangerous opponent. But it does mean that the possibilities of American suitcases with dollars and “green berets” are not unlimited today either.
At the same time, this scandal shows the extent to which some “quality British media”, respected by many in Russia, are engaged.
Take, for example, the Reuters story, which describes the incident as follows:
“The Venezuelan government said it disrupted a maritime invasion on Sunday by “terrorist mercenaries” who tried to enter the country in high-speed boats from neighboring Colombia, and opposition leaders called the incident an organized production… Critics of the ruling Socialist Party often reject such accusations – such as tricks used to justify the detention of government opponents.”
The group landed early Sunday morning on the coast of La Guayra, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the capital Caracas, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said in a televised address. The State Department questioned the official version of the events on Sunday and said it continues to support Guaydo.
What can a well-meaning westerner understand from this message? It’s likely that the Venezuelan authorities staged something. But if you look at another source, you will find much more interesting details that change the picture dramatically. Associated Press reports: “Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the Venezuelan authorities on Monday arrested two U.S. citizens in a group of “mercenaries” who were involved in a disruption of the landing on the coast, allegedly aimed at capturing the leader of the socialists (ie Maduro. – Ed.). <…> Two US citizens arrested on Monday were identified as Luke Denman and Irene Berry, former US Special Forces soldiers. The Florida-based ex-Green Beret, Jordan Goodro, said earlier Monday that he had worked with two members of a group intending to apprehend Maduro and “liberate” Venezuela. Gudro has taken responsibility for the operation.
It turns out to be a rather unpleasant picture for the State Department. Or we have to admit that Venezuelan special services are so strong that they were able to organize the staging with the participation of at least three representatives of the U.S. special forces, and one of them confessed what he did while on U.S. territory (which, of course, would be very flattering to the Venezuelan security forces, but is unlikely to be in the realm of their capabilities). Or we would have to admit that there was no staging, but there was a real attempt to carry out a special operation to capture (or kill) an independent state leader, carried out in the best traditions of American spy gunmen – that is, all participants were warned that if the operation fails, they will be declared simply madmen, extremists, bandits or soldiers of good luck, who acted at their own risk.
Unlike Hollywood movies, in which such operations always end with the triumph of the American Special Forces, in real life, everything went badly wrong, and now we can observe the consequences of this failure.
By the way, it should be noted that, according to the Associated Press, the American special services and the White House have nothing to do with the failure of the operation. It must be admitted that their version looks more convincing than the shameful silence on key facts in the execution of other media: “The Associated Press investigation, published on Friday, showed that Gudro (the American “green beret” who took responsibility for the adventure. – Ed.) worked with a retired general of the Venezuelan army (who is now facing charges of transporting drugs to the United States) to train dozens of Venezuelan national security defectors in secret camps in neighboring Colombia. The aim was to organize a cross-border raid that would culminate in the arrest of Maduro. But from the very beginning, the army gathered from around the world by a thread had no funding or support from the U.S. government, which practically guaranteed defeat from Maduro’s numerous, albeit demoralized, army.
The version looks plausible until the reader asks an inconvenient question: if American journalists were able to find this organization, its camps and its leaders, how come that it was not found and taken under the wing by American special services? Something is not sticking. And the accusation (and the forthcoming imprisonment) of the escaped Venezuelan general, who could not but cooperate with the American special services at all due to the specifics of his position in the USA, looks even more like an attempt to cover his tracks and build an alibi for the American authorities.
I would like to believe in the best, but we are likely to see at least a few more similar attempts to seize power in Venezuela: it is too annoying that Washington has an independent country “in its backyard” where Russian oil companies work well.
The price of oil will not always be low, and with the sharp decline in oil shale production in the U.S., the “oil pantry” in the Venezuelan jungle is becoming more valuable literally every day and every dollar the oil price rises. And, unfortunately, there are enough people willing to take part in another geopolitical adventure, as well as those willing to justify in the media any American crime by the need to defend the ideals of democracy and human rights.
Ivan Danilov, RIA