U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs on travel to Phoenix, Arizona from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 5, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
May 5, 2020
By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied any involvement by the U.S. government in what Venezuelan officials have called a failed armed incursion into the South American country that led to the capture of two American “mercenaries.”
Trump made the comment to reporters at the White House after socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday said authorities there had detained the pair of U.S. citizens working with a U.S. military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the foiled operation.
“We’ll find out. We just heard about it,” Trump said when asked about the incident and the Americans’ arrests. “But it has nothing to do with our government.”
In a state television address, Maduro said authorities arrested 13 “terrorists” on Monday involved in what he described as a plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him.
Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said.
Maduro showed what he said were the U.S. passports and other identification cards belonging to Airan Berry, 41, and Luke Denman, 34, whom he said were in custody and had been working with Jordan Goudreau, an American military veteran who leads a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA.
The two detained Americans, former special operations forces members who had served with Goudreau, were believed to be in the custody of Venezuelan military intelligence, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday the alleged plot was hindered by rivalries among the participants and logistical problems, including a shortage of fuel for their boats.
Echoing Trump, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told a Pentagon briefing: “The United States government had nothing to do with what’s happened in Venezuela in the last few days.”
The U.S. State Department has yet to provide any comment on the arrests. Since the United States and Venezuela broke off relations last year, the U.S. embassy has ceased to operate in Caracas, making it harder for the governments to communicate.
Though the incident has reverberated through the Venezuelan news media and social media, it has done little to change the situation either for Maduro – who oversees a collapsing economy – or for the opposition, which has been unable to remove him despite heavy U.S. sanctions and broad international support.
Washington has waged a campaign of economic and diplomatic measures against Venezuela in an effort to oust Maduro, accusing him of having rigged elections in 2018.
But while Trump has repeatedly said all options are on the table, his administration has shown no apparent interest in military action. Maduro’s government says the United States wants to control the OPEC member nation’s massive oil reserves.
GUAIDO: MADURO SEEKS TO DISTRACT
Since early 2019, the United States and dozens of other countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president.
But Maduro remains in power, backed by the military as well as Russia, Cuba and China, which some U.S. officials say privately is a source of frustration for Trump.
Guaido – often derided by Maduro as a U.S. puppet – has cast doubt on the government’s version of Sunday’s events.
“They’re trying to create a state of apparent confusion an effort to hide what’s happening in Venezuela,” Guaido said in a virtual session of congress on Tuesday, citing gasoline shortages, a deadly prison riot and a violent gang battle in Caracas. The Venezuelan government is also struggling to cope with the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
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’s knowledge or approval.
Monday’s arrests come after Maduro’s government on Sunday announced it had thwarted a “mercenary incursion.”
Goudreau released a video identifying himself as an organizer of the operation, alongside dissident Venezuelan military officer Javier Nieto.
Silvercorp’s website describes Goudreau as a “highly decorated Special Forces Iraq and Afghanistan veteran.”
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Mark Hosenball, Tim Ahmann, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington, Sarah Kinosian in Caracas; writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jonathan Oatis)
