Brazil, Venezuela January 17, 2020
Brazils far-right government backed terror plot against Venezuela, top
newspaper reveals
Brazils extreme Bolsonaro government backed an attack on Venezuela in a
plot to overthrow its elected president. The shocking terror operation has
received no coverage in mainstream US media.
By Ben Norton
Brazils far-right government helped support military attacks on Venezuela
in hopes of inciting a coup and violently overthrowing the countrys leftist
government.
This plan was revealed by a major pro-government newspaper in Brazil. And
yet the shocking story was not covered by any mainstream paper in the US or
Europe. Outside a lone report by Venezuelas state-backed teleSUR which
Washington-backed coup plotters are now trying to usurp the story was
completely ignored in Anglophone media.
The United States has supported a series of coup attempts against
Venezuelas elected government since 2002, which accelerated in 2019. But
the details of Brazils role in the latest plot is a novel revelation.
On December 31, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo disclosed the putsch plans
in an article titled Attack on barracks by soldiers who took refuge in
Brazil was part of larger plan against Maduro. The subtitle added,
Deserters intended to initiate large-scale military uprising, but failed.
O Globo is one of Brazils most widely circulated outlets. It has a staunch
right-wing editorial line and is infamous for supporting Brazils fascist
military dictatorship between the 1960s and 80s.
The paper maintains close ties to Brazils political and military
establishment. And it consulted with numerous sources to reconstruct the
plans for the latest attacks on Venezuela.
Trilogy: 3 planned attacks on Venezuela, with help from foreign countries
With the support of neighboring right-wing countries, Venezuelan military
defectors planned to launch three military uprisings against the Venezuelan
government on or around Christmas Eve, according to O Globo.
The official name of the operation was Trilogia (Trilogy). One attack
targeted Venezuelas Bolívar state on the southeastern border with Brazil; a
second attack was planned as an amphibious invasion; and a third was to take
place near Colombias border.
Two of these three planned attacks failed, as only one of the groups carried
out the orders as planned.
Brazil-backed insurgents crossed into Venezuelan territory and, on December
22, attacked the 513 Selva Mariano Montilla infantry battalion in
Venezuelas Bolívar state, located roughly 230 kilometers from Brazils
northern-most state Roraima, near the border of the two countries.
A total of 16 Venezuelan military deserters participated in the attack on
the Mariano Montilla barracks, killing a Venezuelan soldier and wounding
another.
They stole weapons, including 112 rifles, 120 grenades, three rocket
launchers, three machine guns, 10, bazookas, and 10 ammunition boxes,
according to another O Globo report.
In a parallel operation, Brazil-backed insurgents also attacked soldiers in
the Venezuelan city of Santa Elena, near the border. But this operation
ultimately failed.
Unnamed sources told O Globo the ultimate goal of the operation was to build
a more heavily armed superior force to carry out larger and larger attacks
against Venezuelas government, kicking off a protracted violent insurgency
in southern Venezuela, on the border area with Brazil.
Brazils, and Guaidós, complicity in the attacks
These attacks on Venezuela had the backing of Brazils far-right government,
led by President Jair Bolsonaro, a fascistic demagogue who came to power
following a US-backed parliamentary and legal coup that forced Brazils
center-left Workers Party from power.
Bolsonaro has pledged to purge, imprison, and exile leftists, and has
staunchly defended his countrys previous military dictatorship, while
heaping praise on the murderous junta of US-backed Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet.
Before and after the attacks on Venezuela, according to O Globo, there were
high-level communications between Brazils Foreign Ministry and the coup
regime of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
Guaidó, who the United States has been trying to forcibly install as the
head of state of Venezuela, had been recognized by Bolsonaro as the supposed
president of the country although he was never elected to the position.
Guaidó and Bolsonaro have met and publicly demanded the ouster of
Venezuelas elected, UN-recognized President Nicolás Maduro.
#Brasil
Nos reunimos con el Presidente @jairbolsonaro para continuar fortaleciendo
la ayuda humanitaria, evaluar la situación en nuestra frontera común y
establecer compromisos como parte de los próximos pasos para lograr la
libertad de Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/b06GcRJfaw
Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 1, 2019
According to O Globo, most of the coup-plotters who participated in the
botched military uprising hid in Venezuela. Many were subsequently arrested.
Yet five of the insurgents crossed back over into Brazil and hid for several
days among the Taurepang indigenous community in Roraima state. Members of
this community informed the Brazilian government, which then decided to
rescue and officially grant refuge to the Venezuelan defectors on December
26.
O Globo noted that Venezuelas foreign-backed right-wing opposition
expressed relief at Bolsonaros decision to protect the Venezuelan
soldiers who had carried out a violent attack on their homeland.
Venezuelas actual government, on the other hand, harshly condemned the
Bolsonaro administration for its decision to legally protect the
coup-plotters, stating that it was setting a dangerous precedent of
protection for people who committed flagrant offenses against peace and the
stability of another state.
Venezuela has formally requested the extradition of the five defectors
protected by Brazil, but the far-right Bolsonaro administration has
dismissed Caracas requests on the grounds that it does not recognize
Maduros legitimacy.
Brazilian media confirms what Venezuelan government said
The O Globo report confirms public statements by Venezuelan government
officials after the December 22 attack.
Venezuelas communication minister, Jorge Rodríguez, declared that the
defectors not only had support from the government of Bolsonaro, but were
also trained in paramilitary camps in Colombia.
Estos criminales fueron entrenados en campamentos paramilitares plenamente
identificados en Colombia, y recibieron la colaboración artera del Gob de
Jair Bolsonaro
Jorge Rodríguez (@jorgerpsuv) December 22, 2019
The Venezuelan intelligence services tracked the infiltrators movements
from Brazil, through Peru, and into the Colombian city of Cali, where they
received training.
Venezuelas foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, wrote, From Peru they enter
Colombia and they receive support also from Brazil. This is a coup-mongering
strategy of triangulation by the governments of the Lima Cartel to produce
violence, death, and destabilization in Venezuela.
Desde Perú entran por Colombia y reciben apoyo también en Brasil. Es una
estrategia golpista de triangulación de gobiernos del Cartel de Lima para
producir violencia, muerte y desestabilización política en Venezuela.
Denunciamos a estos gobiernos ante el mundo. ¡No pasarán!
Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) December 23, 2019
The coup plotters also entangled local indigenous communities in their
violent operations, recruiting accomplices from the native groups on the
border area between Venezuela and Brazil.
Nine members of the local Venezuelan indigenous community were involved in
the attacks, according to O Globo, and all were arrested for their role in
the botched coup attempt.
Tensions between Venezuela and Brazil remain at a boiling point. However,
Maduro has hesitated to sever all ties with the powerful neighbor in order
to preserve trade between the countries.
Unilateral US sanctions on Venezuela have already killed tens of thousands
of civilians and made it difficult to import food into the country.
Venezuela still relies on food from Brazils massive agricultural sector to
help feed communities near the border. The imports are especially important
as Washington attempts to sanction Caracas CLAP food distribution program,
which feeds seven million families.
Venezuelas government has managed to fend off the violent infiltration and
subterfuge by its powerful neighbor. But thanks to a media blackout, the
plot remains unknown to almost everyone in the US, except perhaps to those
who helped hatch it.
Ben Norton
