With the apparent consent of president Donald Trump, U.S. covert operatives repeatedly met with disgruntled officers of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela (Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana) to discuss a coup d'etat against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. National Security Council didn't deny this report. But speaking through Garrett Marquis, its spokesman, the NSC said U.S. policy prefers a peaceful, orderly return to democracy in Venezuela and this preference remains unchanged.
The American covert operatives met with rebel Venezuelan military officers many times over the past year to discuss plans to overthrow Maduro, according to a story by The New York Times. A former Venezuelan military commander who participated in the talks revealed that a covert communications channel was established between Trump administration officials and the coup plotters.
The Venezuelan officers also asked the U.S. to provide encrypted radios to hundreds of officers and men who planned to oust Maduro. The U.S., however, decided to not send the radios and another materiel when dozens of the coup plotters were later arrested by Venezuelan police.
The coup plotters contacted the Trump White House after the president last year said the U.S. had a "military option" for Venezuela. It was Trump, the commander-in-chief saying this now, said one of the officers involved in the plot. He said he's not going to doubt America's intentions when Trump was the messenger.
Venezuela immediately blasted the United States and accused it of supporting military conspiracies. Venezuela's foreign minister Jorge Arreaza tweeted that his country denounces the intervention plans and support for military conspirators by the government of the United States. "Even in U.S. media, the crass evidence is coming to light."
The Trump administration later issued a statement that seemed to suggest regime change is still an option that remains on the table. It said Washington daily hears the concerns of Venezuelans from all walks of life, including members of the ruling party; the security services; civil society or from the millions of citizens forced by Maduro's government to flee to neighboring countries.
Washington said these segments of Venezuelan society share one goal: rebuilding democracy in their homeland. It said a lasting solution to Venezuela's worsening crisis can only arise following restoration of governance by democratic practices, the rule of law, and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms.
The United States has a long history of intervening in Latin American politics. It supported a coup in Chile in 1973 that overthrew Augusto Pinochet and sponsored and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion to overthrow Cuba's Fidel Castro in 1961.
