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MAY 7, 2020 | The Jewish Home
The Week In News
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Failed Coup in Venezuela
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A bizarre plot hatched by an exU.S. Special Forces commando attempted to oust Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s with only a few hundred volunteer troops. First reported by the Associated Press last week, the would-be coup was the brainchild of former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau. A Bronze Star recipient who served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Goudreau wanted to invade Venezuela from Colombia with the 300 volunteer troops he recruited. The troops would have raided a slew of Venezuelan military bases using the commando tactics Goudreau honed during his military service. The attacks were supposed to spark a mass rebellion throughout Venezuela that would have toppled the Maduro regime. According to the report, Goudreau spoke of his close ties to President Donald Trump and gave his soldiers the impression that they were being supported by the United States. Often, Goudreau regaled subordinates with stories of how he would lead an assault on Maduro’s palace using attack helicopters. Joining Goudreau was Cliver Alcalá, a former Venezuelan military officer and suspected drug trafficker. Alcalá was tasked with recruiting disgruntled deserters from the Venezuelan army and with providing weapons and supplies. The band of ragtag troops began training in three camps in Columbia in early 2020. Then, everything collapsed after one of the volunteer troops was nabbed by Venezuelan police while attempting to infiltrate the border. A short while later, Colum-
bian agents impounded a shipment of weapons headed for the soldiers, including hundreds of telescopic rifle scopes, night vision goggles, communications gear, and assault rifles. When it became clear that the would-be coup was dead, the remaining troops fled the jungle to be with their loved ones during the coronavirus epidemic. Others were arrested by Columbian police and now face lengthy prison sentences. Now, many are asking why anyone ever thought that the plot had a chance at success. “You’re not going to take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men,” former Navy SEAL Ephraim Mattos told the Associated Press. “There was no chance they were going to succeed without direct U.S. military intervention.”
Global Coronavirus Vaccine Conference
A pledging marathon was launched on Monday to raise at least $8 billion for research towards a vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus. The conference was organized by the European Union, Britain, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Canada. China was only represented by its ambassador to the European Union. Noticeably absent from the event was the United States, with the list of speakers not including any U.S. officials. The United States has the world’s most confirmed cases of coronavirus and remains a major donor to the United Nations and U.N. bodies. “We support this pledging effort by the EU. It is one of many pledging efforts that are going on and the United States is at the forefront,” said a senior U.S. administration official, who did not elaborate as to why the U.S. was not participating. President Donald Trump had said on April 15 that he would suspend funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), whose director general addressed the conference, over its handling of the
