The opposition leadership under Juan Guaido continued to deny connection to “Operacion Gedeon”, the failed plot to capture Maduro and other high-ranking government officials that involved a private security firm called Silvercorp USA. The failed mission left at least eight of the raiders dead, and the government claims to have arrested approximately two dozen people it claims are related to the plot.
The first statement of the evening to that effect came from Carlos Vecchio, the opposition ambassador to the United States. In a lengthy Twitter thread, Vecchio said that the Guaido government had “no links whatsoever” to Silvercorp USA or with Opearcion Gedeon. Vecchio said that Goudreau, who heads Silvercorp USA, decided to launch “an independent operation” that was eventually infiltrated by the Maduro government. Vecchio also admitted that while talks between the opposition and Silvercorp USA did take place, they did not “move beyond the exploratory phase” and that they stopped communicating with the company in November 2019.
Later in the evening, Juan Guaido released a brief video statement in which he said that the events that began on Sunday and Monday were “a false positive” operation mounted by the Maduro government “to create a narrative”. Guaido asked why the Maduro government allowed the raid to take place if it was true that, as Maduro claimed, it infiltrated the group of plotters. Guaido provided his answer:
Because the cowardly [government wanted to murder and arrest Venezuelans who were in exile… and justify more repression.
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