Federal investigators say they found the DNA of a decorated former U.S. Green Beret on some of the 60 automatic weapons he allegedly smuggled from Florida to South America as part of a failed 2020 coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The plot, exposed by The Associated Press two days before the incursion, was carried out by a ragtag group of Venezuelan army deserters whom Goudreau allegedly helped arm and train in neighboring Colombia. Goudreau later claimed responsibility for the putsch, but said he was acting in concert with the Venezuelan opposition to protect democracy. He also said he was in touch with then-President Donald Trump’s administration, which made no secret of its desire to see Maduro gone, even though there’s no evidence U.S. officials blessed the invasion.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 months ago

    To be clear this is the 2020 US-backed attempted coup in Venezuela, not the 2024 not-yet-confirmed US-backed attempted coup in Venezuela, right?

      • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
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        3 months ago

        In the 1950s in the Philippines the CIA was conducting operations against a militant group called the Huks. The CIA operatives spread rumors that manananggal (basically the local mythological equivalent of a vampire) was attacking people, particularly in the area of one mountain village. Then they located a Huk patrol, stealth-killed one guy, punctured his neck to create the appearance of “bite marks”, drained all his blood, and threw him back on the road where they had jumped him.

        Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswang