Today, Explained - A few men in fishing boats try to take Venezuela

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

While the world was distracted by a pandemic, a ragtag team of Americans and Venezuelans attempted to overthrow President Maduro. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The all-new FanDuel Sportsbook and Casino is bringing you more action than ever. Want more ways to follow your faves? Check out our new player prop tracking with real-time notifications. Or how about more ways to customize your casino page with our new favorite and recently played games tabs. And to top it all off, quick and secure withdrawals. Get more everything with FanDuel Sportsbook and Casino. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600.

Visit connectsontario.ca. While the rest of the world was busy worrying about the virus, they just had a big old messy attempt at a coup out in Venezuela. If the coup flew right past you, Alex Ward has your back. He's been covering it for Vox. To understand the extent of this dramatic Shakespearean tragedy, you really need to understand four main characters of this play. You already know one of them, Juan Guaido, the guy who's been trying to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for about a year and a half. You need to know a guy named J.J. Rendon, who is a close associate of the Guaido team. You need to know about a former major general from Venezuela, a guy named Cleaver Alcala, who is no fan of Maduro. And the central character in our play is a guy named Jordan Goudreau,

a former U.S. Green Beret who created this company called Silver Corp USA and who was hired to help fund and lead as well this anti-Maduro raid. How do all these characters come together in this story? It's a long story, but here's the Cliff Notes version. Alcalá has a group of ex-Venezuelan soldiers in Colombia, and they're training for an actual coup of Maduro, an actual overthrow, like Michael Bay, you know, Jack Ryan style, like go into Caracas, take out the leader. He meets Jordan Goudreau at a concert last year, which was done and put on by Richard Branson, the billionaire,

to help give humanitarian aid into the country, but also really to back Guaido's efforts to get Maduro out. I remember that concert. By the end, they eventually come up with a plan in which Goudreau will bring weapons and money into this scheme. And Goudreau basically says, look, I've got tons of contacts in the Trump administration and the U.S. government. I obtained as part of my reporting a document that Goudreau drafted last summer, which shows all the kinds of things he basically said that the team would need, including info rifles, night vision goggles, anti-tank weaponry, and, you know, things like sharpies, notepads, whatever, pens. Everything from anti-tank weaponry to pens.

Yep, he ran the gamut here. Now, while these guys are talking, Guaido is still trying to figure out a way to get Maduro out and get himself in power. By last fall, Guaido forms this select committee, basically a kind of think tank within his team to figure out what options do we have to get Maduro out. The leader of this committee is a guy named J.J. Rendon, and Rendon ends up meeting with Goudreau in Miami,

in which Goudreau basically makes the same pitch. I can send 800 men. I have, you know, weapons at disposal. I can get a lot of money. And here's what you need to do. You need to give me a $1.5 million retainer. And also, I will take some money out of Venezuela's oil once Guaido is in power. And so they get to talking. They have some meetings. By October of last year, they sign a contract. A contract for a coup. Yep.

Signed by Goudreau, Rendon, and most controversially and amazingly, Guaido. The contract is for, now here comes the quote. An operation to capture slash detain slash remove Nicolas Maduro. Dot, dot, dot. Remove the current regime and install the recognized Venezuelan president, Juan Guaido. So it's pretty clear. This is a contract in which Goudreau effectively signs on with Guaido's team to oust Maduro and put Guaido into power. So at what point do they try to execute the plan in this contract?

Well, you should know that throughout this time, this group led by Alcala is still training in Colombia, and they're still waiting for their money. They're still waiting for their guns. And we're in October,, you know, Goudreau had talked directly to Trump, that he was former CIA, that the US government was actually behind this thing when really there's no evidence of any of that. Flash forward to November, Goudreau has not produced anything. He's acting erratically. He's actually asking Rendon

for $1.5 million retainer and not getting it. Rendon effectively just like wires at $50,000 just to see if Goudreau needs more time to fulfill his promise and he hasn't done it. And so they basically cut ties in November. They think it's all over. The plan is dead. That is until we got to May.

What happens in May? On May 1st, the Associated Press puts out this wild, stunning report in which it lays out that Goudreau was hired to help with this plan to house Maduro, that there are ex-Venezuelan soldiers training in Colombia, that Guaido's team seems to be involved, all of that. That comes out May 1st, which happens to be the same day that the plan to overthrow Maduro is launched. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I thought the plan was dead. Guaido and Rendon

thought the plan was off, but Goudreau was going through with the plan anyway? Same plan? Different plan? The initial plan was two teams of 300 men would go from Colombia into Venezuela. One team would take over Maracaibo, the country's second largest city, and major oil hub with a massive seaport. And another team would go into Caracas to overthrow Maduro. And the detail that I love the most is the plan would be they would go basically right near Maduro's presidential palace in American helicopters flown by American pilots, but wearing Venezuelan military garb. The helicopter pilots would transport those ex-Venezuelan soldiers near the presidential palace so they could go in, capture Maduro, hold there for a bit as the Maracaibo team drives all night to Caracas. And then eventually they take Maduro to the United States to stand trial, face justice, and Guaido takes over. And the hope would be that even though this was 300 men, that there would be so many anti-Maduro forces that Maduro's troops would eventually lay down their arms and let all of this happen or even join in to help the operation.

This is the plan that Alcala and Goudreau kind of talked about earlier. Then what Goudreau was selling to Guaido's team was, oh, I can get 800 men, and I can get all this weaponry that we talked about. So here's what ends up happening on May 1st. At least two fishing boats, perhaps a few more, with only 60 men in it, including two former U.S. Green Berets,

and guns and ammo, start going from Colombia into Venezuela. This isn't the 800 men from the contract. This isn't the 300 men from the plan that existed earlier. This is 60 dudes on fishing boats? Yep, it's a long journey, and they are seasick. They are vomiting along the way. On May 3rd, when they get near the Venezuelan coast in the north, they get caught pretty easily.

Two Americans captured along with 11 others after a failed armed incursion into Venezuela. They tried to get in by sea, but the plan floundered off the coast. Eight people were killed, about 13 arrested, perhaps more now. And what makes it even more amazing is Goudreau, who is not in these boats, does two things. One, he puts out a video in which he announces the operation as it is happening.

At 1700 hours, a daring amphibious raid was launched from the border of Colombia, deep into the heart of Caracas. Our men are continuing to fight right now. And then he also tweets about it from his company's account. So, this was always going to go bad. It's 60 guys trying to overthrow a country, but it makes it much, much, much, much, much harder when you're announcing a coup attempt online. So on a scale of like one to coup, how did this go?

I mean, one lower? I mean, they didn't even make it to the coast before without getting caught. There are some horrendous scenes in which you can see, you know, the men who try to do the overthrow, they are on the ground face down, you know, hands behind their head being, you know, held at gunpoint. There are some reports by Maduro critics that there's been some extrajudicial killings of some of these men. And there are two Americans captured here, these two former Special Forces soldiers. And Maduro goes on national TV to basically brag about how this whole plan was thwarted, how he knew about it. On Sunday, May the 3rd, Venezuela faced down an attempted maritime incursion from terrorist mercenaries that were trained in Colombian territory under financing and support from

the United States and the current Colombian government. And he goes on to also like hold up the passport of one of the Americans, their Department of Veterans Affairs card, an expired Pentagon Access card. They have the IDs, and they're shown on Venezuelan national TV. And then also one of the Americans is put on national TV in Venezuela in which he's being interrogated.

And there's always pressure in these things, so you take it with a grain of salt. I was helping Venezuelans take back control. This was all part of a plan. It was part of a contract that was signed. My responsibilities to Silver Corps are written in a contract or described in a contract signed by Jordan Goudreau, Juan Rendon, and Juan Guaido. And the big picture here for Venezuela is Maduro has been saying, the United States is after me. They are plotting to overthrow me. It sounded like a conspiracy theory, and it still pretty much is.

But boy, did he just get bolstered by having an American lead a boneheaded coup to oust him from power. More with Alex after a break. Support for Today Explained comes from Ramp. Thank you. the end of every month. And now you can get $250 when you join Ramp. You can go to ramp.com slash explained, ramp.com slash explained, R-A-M-P.com slash explained. Cards issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC, terms and conditions apply. There's something every NBA fan will love with BetMGM. And no matter your team, your favorite player, or your style, there's something every NBA fan will love about BetMGM. Download the app today and discover why BetMGM is your basketball home for the season. Raise your game to the next level this year with BetMGM, a sportsbook worth a slam dunk,

and authorized gaming partner of the NBA. BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.

Alex, it's been about a week since this attempted coup was quashed. What's happened since? Well, there's been global implications. In Venezuela, you have Guaido, who was popular, and it's now been about a year and a half since he's launched his plan to overthrow Maduro, and he's faced setback after setback, probably none bigger than this one, even though last year he tried an actual coup attempt himself, and that didn't work. And this one, where he's trying to get, like, Americans involved, it just looks desperate and sloppy. And if you're trying to make a case that you should be the leader of a country, being involved in something this amateur isn't going to help. Does he still have support?

Yeah. There are tons of people who do not want Maduro to be in charge because the country's in shambles under his leadership. I mean, the economy has absolutely tanked. You've got millions starving, impoverished, you know, and fleeing the country. It is just a horrible humanitarian situation in Venezuela directly because of Maduro's failed leadership there. And there's a feeling that Guaido represents this sort of movement to get him out. But again, it's been about a year and a half, and he hasn't really made much progress at this point. A failed coup attempt last year, and even more sloppy and amateur one just last week. The United States has its hands full right now with this pandemic,

but did they weigh in? Did they say anything about this attempted coup in Venezuela? Pompeo has been the most vocal in saying like we had no direct involvement in this. You've had Secretary of Defense Esper say the U.S. was not involved. And Trump also said we were not involved. But Trump, as he does, made it a bit worse. If I wanted to go into Venezuela, I would make a secret about it. I'd go in. I into Venezuela, I would make a secret about it. I'd go in, I'd go in and they would do nothing about it. Yeah, they would probably send more people, right? I would, yeah, I wouldn't send a small little group. No, no, no. It would be called an army. Like I would have gone in big, not 60 men in fishing boats. If we ever did anything

with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be a slightly different. It would be called an invasion. Trump is basically saying, if I was going to do a coup, I would do a coup. Has Maduro said anything in response to that? What he is saying is that he believes the U.S. is behind it. He firmly believes it, or at least he's saying that he does. And why shouldn't he? He has been using the United States as a scapegoat for his failed leadership in Venezuela, saying that because there's this, you know, American effort to get him out of power, that that's really why there are the problems that there are in Venezuela. That was always an exaggerated claim. But having a big win like this in the sense of having, you know, Americans work with Venezuelans to try to get him out and that he stopped it.

He is able to, one, show that he's still in power and still very, you know, successful in that sense and is in charge of the armed services. But also, that lends some legitimacy in the eyes of some people that there is this American effort to get him out. So this is Maduro's best week in a really long time. And meanwhile, what does that mean for the Venezuelan people? I mean, they've got this political crisis on top of the existing economic crisis, and now on top of a global pandemic. Where does that leave them?

In a really bad spot. I feel for the people of Venezuela who many, you know, millions have demonstrated and latched onto Guaido as a sense of hope in that if Maduro goes, or at least somehow Maduro decides to change everything about the way he leads the country, that maybe Venezuela, which was a fairly rich country not that long ago, massive oil reserves, you know, a lot going for it, that now Maduro has firmed his grip on the country, which could only potentially mean more dictatorship, devastation, economic hardship, hunger, a horrifying humanitarian situation in the country that will only further

impact the region with refugees flooding into Colombia, heading elsewhere. It's going to be a massive problem. And so to have this on top of the coronavirus is just a tragedy of epic proportions. Alex Ward, he writes about the world for Vox. He talks about it on a podcast called Worldly. I'm Sean Ramos for him. This is Today Explained.