Three Venezuelans pleaded guilty to participating in a failed armed invasion that attempted to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro last year.
In Friday’s hearing before a Colombian court, the Venezuelan men recognized their responsibility along with Jordan Goudreau, a former green beret from the United States and a veteran of the Iraq war, in forming a military cell of just a few. . dozens of Venezuelan military deserters who tried to overthrow their country’s socialist government. His objectives included storming military installations and the presidential palace.
“I apologize to the Colombian government,” was the words of Major Juvenal Sequea, one of the defendants, before a judge in Bogotá when he and two others were involved in accepting minor charges, such as providing advice and logistical support for illegal armed groups.
The so-called Operation Gideon, or Bay of the Piglets, as the failed invasion became known, had a tragic end: six rebels were killed and two Americans – Goudreau’s former companions in the Special Forces – are in a prison in Caracas, the capital. . of Venezuela. The plot never had a chance of success against Maduro’s loyal and heavily armed forces, who had also managed to infiltrate the operation months earlier.
Juvenal Sequea and Captain Juven Sequea, both charged in Colombia, are the older brothers of Bolivarian National Guard captain Antonio Sequea, who confessed to being the commander of the failed May 3, 2020 armed raid and now imprisoned in Caracas. The third person to plead guilty is Russian Rayder, a citizen who has been trying to overthrow Maduro for years.
The only crime they plead guilty to can get them between 6 and 10 years in prison. However, under Colombian law, they can be placed on trial or under house arrest if given a sentence of less than eight years, meaning they can be released in exchange for cooperation with the judicial authorities. Six months ago, while arrested in Colombia, the three involved were accused of providing military training to illegal armed groups, a more serious crime that could lead to up to 30 years in prison.
Yacsy Álvarez, the fourth defendant in the Colombian investigation, has repeatedly pleaded innocent and accused Colombian authorities of constant contact with Cliver Alcalá, the retired Venezuelan military general who led the operation. Álvarez is called to be accountable for the crime of arms trafficking for allegedly contributing to supplying smuggled weapons to former dissident military personnel.
Álvarez was the translator for Goudreau, who did not speak Spanish, during his visits to Colombia. The two opened a subsidiary of Goudreau’s security company, Silvercorp (headquartered in Florida) in mid-2019. The company registered their address at the location of a luxury hotel in Barranquilla, according to Colombian public records.
He also flew with Goudreau and two other former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, to Barranquilla aboard a Cessna jet owned by his boss, businessman Franklin Durán, who has been doing business with the Venezuelan government for a long time. At the time, Álvarez lived in Barranquilla, in the Colombian Caribbean, and worked as a marketing manager at Lubricantes Venoco, a Durán company.
According to the plea agreement read by prosecutors in court, the Colombian investigation began after the seizure, on March 23, 2020, of an arsenal of 26 assault rifles and tactical equipment that it later became known had been dispatched by Álvarez and destined for the rebels on the island. La Guajira peninsula, which Colombia shares with Venezuela.
Hours before he presented himself on charges of drug trafficking in the United States on March 26, Alcalá, who coordinated the clandestine operation, agreed to be responsible for the weapons.
Alcala, now awaiting trial in New York, said the weapons belonged to the “Venezuelan people”. He also lashed out at opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who he accused of betraying a contract he signed with “American advisers” to overthrow Maduro.
The United States has denied any direct involvement in the failed armed raid at the same time as the Venezuelan opposition has withdrawn from Goudreau, despite having previously signed an agreement to carry out an operation aimed at capturing Maduro and take power from him.
Other than a $ 50,000 payment for expenses, Silvercorp never collected the agreement signed with Guaido’s allies. During the raid, Goudreau also admitted to continuing the invasion without Guaidó’s support, although last year he sued one of his aides, political analyst JJ Rendon, for breach of contract.