Second ex-Green Beret paraded on Venezuelan TV says he knows failed coup attempt against Maduro was ‘illegal’
THE SECOND American mercenary caught in a failed coup against Nicolas Maduro was paraded on TV Thursday while being interrogated by Venezuelan officials.
During the clip, Airan Berry, 41, said “I know it’s illegal now, before it was a different understanding.”
Berry was later seen holding up a document, which he claimed was a contract between Venezuelan leader Juan Guaidó, ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau and Juan Rendón.
He said: “This contract was posted several days ago by Jordan Goudreau. It outlines my responsibilities with Silvercorp signed by Juan Guaidó, Jordan Goudreau and Juan Rendón.”
This morning, officials told AP that the US government knew weapons were being smuggled to training camps ahead of a failed Venezuela coup led by a former Green Beret.
US officials earlier this week denied knowledge of the “Rambo mercenary plot” led by Jordan Goudreau, 43, to kill or capture President Nicolas Maduro.
However, the DEA was reportedly tipped off about the smuggling earlier this year.
The DEA failed to act on the tip, had no idea who Goudreau was, and did not open a formal probe, the officials told AP.
The agency assumed the weapons were being sent to leftist rebels or criminal gangs in Colombia and passed it on to the Department of Homeland Security.
The report that the US government were informed came after Venezuela arrested two US mercenaries over a plot “to assassinate Maduro.”
Goudreau has claimed he was leading an operation to capture the Venezuelan president.
Venezuela claimed Luke Denman and Airan Berry were caught “playing Rambo” while storming a beach with a group of other men on May 3.
President Maduro held up a pair of US passports at a press conference, giving the names and birth dates of the men as he dubbed them “terrorist mercenaries.”
He alleged the men were taking part in a plot masterminded by the US, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and neighboring Colombia to assassinate him.
Maduro showed off equipment, including night-vision goggles and walkie-talkies that he claimed were seized from the alleged mercenaries.
“The United States government is fully and completely involved in this defeated raid,” Maduro said.
“They were playing Rambo. They were playing hero.”
Venezuelan authorities alleged there was a gun battle in the raid on a beach near La Guaira, which left eight mercenaries dead before speedboats arrived and two were arrested.
A total of 14 mercenaries have been arrested, Venezuelan government claims.
Denman – now being held in custody in South America – was paraded on TV on Wednesday, as he claimed President Donald Trump and Goudreau tasked him with picking up Maduro from the Maiquetia “Simon Bolivar” Airport.
He claimed he was instructed to bring Maduro to the US.
The reports of the US Government agencies being made aware of Goudreau’s alleged involvement comes after Trump denied any US involvement in the attack.
“We’ll find out. We just heard about it,” Trump told reporters.
“But it has nothing to do with our government,” he added.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also denied Denman’s claims and questioned Maduro.
“There was no US government direct involvement in this operation,” he told reporters at the State Department on Wednesday.
“If we had been involved, it would have turned out differently,” he added.
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Pompeo did not comment on US governments to recover the reported captured American mercenaries.
It was discovered that Goudreau ,– who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and later ran his own security firm – reportedly served as a security guard for President Trump at a rally.
Pictures show the ex-Green Beret with an earpiece at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina in October 2018.