{"id":118198,"date":"2018-09-10T12:01:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T11:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=118198"},"modified":"2018-09-10T11:55:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T10:55:17","slug":"trump-administration-discussed-coup-plans-with-rebel-venezuelan-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/09\/trump-administration-discussed-coup-plans-with-rebel-venezuelan-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans with Rebel Venezuelan Officers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A military ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, this month. The White House declined to answer detailed questions about talks with rebellious officers.
Juan Barreto\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

8 Sep 2018 – <\/em>The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, according to American officials and a former Venezuelan military commander who participated in the talks.<\/p>\n

Establishing a clandestine channel with coup plotters in Venezuela was a big gamble for Washington, given its long history of covert intervention across Latin America. Many in the region still deeply resent the United States for backing previous rebellions, coups and plots in countries like Cuba<\/a>, Nicaragua<\/a>, Brazil<\/a> and Chile<\/a>, and for turning a blind eye to the abuses military regimes committed during the Cold War.<\/p>\n

The White House, which declined to answer detailed questions about the talks, said in a statement that it was important to engage in \u201cdialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracy\u201d in order to \u201cbring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one of the Venezuelan military commanders involved in the secret talks was hardly an ideal figure to help restore democracy: He is on the American government\u2019s own sanctions list of corrupt officials in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

He and other members of the Venezuelan security apparatus have been accused by Washington of a wide range of serious crimes, including torturing critics, jailing hundreds of political prisoners, wounding thousands of civilians, trafficking drugs and collaborating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.<\/p>\n

American officials eventually decided not to help the plotters, and the coup plans stalled. But the Trump administration\u2019s willingness to meet several times with mutinous officers\u2019 intent on toppling a president in the hemisphere could backfire politically.<\/p>\n

Most Latin American leaders agree that Venezuela\u2019s president, Mr. Maduro, is an increasingly authoritarian ruler who has effectively ruined his country\u2019s economy<\/a>, leading to extreme shortages of food<\/a> and medicine<\/a>. The collapse has set off an exodus of desperate Venezuelans who are spilling over borders, overwhelming their neighbors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even so, Mr. Maduro has long justified his grip on Venezuela by claiming that Washington imperialists are actively trying to depose him<\/a>, and the secret talks could provide him with ammunition to chip away at the region\u2019s nearly united stance against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to land like a bomb\u201d in the region, said Mari Carmen Aponte, who served as the top diplomat overseeing Latin American affairs in the final months of the Obama administration.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Maduro at a meeting with ministers in Caracas this month. Most Latin American leaders agree that he is an increasingly authoritarian ruler who has effectively ruined his country\u2019s economy. Miraflores Palace<\/p><\/div>\n

Beyond the coup plot, Mr. Maduro\u2019s government has already fended off several small-scale attacks, including salvos from a helicopter<\/a> last year and exploding drones<\/a> as he gave a speech in August. The attacks have added to the sense that the president is vulnerable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan military officials sought direct access to the American government during Barack Obama\u2019s presidency, only to be rebuffed, officials said.<\/p>\n

Then in August of last year, President Trump declared<\/a> that the United States had a \u201cmilitary option\u201d for Venezuela \u2014 a declaration that drew condemnation from American allies in the region but encouraged rebellious Venezuelan military officers to reach out to Washington once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the commander in chief saying this now,\u201d the former Venezuelan commander on the sanctions list said in an interview, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals by the Venezuelan government. \u201cI\u2019m not going to doubt it when this was the messenger.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a series of covert meetings abroad, which began last fall and continued this year, the military officers told the American government that they represented a few hundred members of the armed forces who had soured on Mr. Maduro\u2019s authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

The officers asked the United States to supply them with encrypted radios, citing the need to communicate securely, as they developed a plan to install a transitional government to run the country until elections could be held.<\/p>\n

American officials did not provide material support, and the plans unraveled after a recent crackdown that led to the arrest of dozens of the plotters.<\/p>\n

Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained for years. The two have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. After Mr. Trump took office, his administration increased sanctions against top Venezuelan officials, including Mr. Maduro himself, his vice president and other top officials in the government.<\/p>\n

The account of the clandestine meetings and the policy debates preceding them is drawn from interviews with 11 current and former American officials, as well as the former Venezuelan commander. He said at least three distinct groups within the Venezuelan military had been plotting against the Maduro government.<\/p>\n

One established contact with the American government by approaching the United States Embassy in a European capital. When this was reported back to Washington, officials at the White House were intrigued but apprehensive. They worried that the meeting request could be a ploy to surreptitiously record an American official appearing to conspire against the Venezuelan government, officials said.<\/p>\n

But as the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsened last year, American officials felt that having a clearer picture of the plans and the men who aspired to oust Mr. Maduro was worth the risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a lot of discussion, we agreed we should listen to what they had to say,\u201d said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak about the secret talks.<\/p>\n

The administration initially considered dispatching Juan Cruz, a veteran Central Intelligence Agency official who recently stepped down as the White House\u2019s top Latin America policymaker. But White House lawyers said it would be more prudent to send a career diplomat instead.<\/p>\n

The American envoy was instructed to attend the meetings \u201cpurely on listening mode,\u201d and was not authorized to negotiate anything of substance on the spot, according to the senior administration official.<\/p>\n

After the first meeting, which took place in the fall of 2017, the diplomat reported that the Venezuelans didn\u2019t appear to have a detailed plan and had showed up at the encounter hoping the Americans would offer guidance or ideas, officials said.<\/p>\n

The former Venezuelan commander said that the rebellious officers never asked for an American military intervention. \u201cI never agreed, nor did they propose, to do a joint operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He claimed that he and his comrades considered striking last summer, when the government suspended the powers of the legislature and installed a new national assembly<\/a> loyal to Mr. Maduro. But he said they aborted the plan, fearing it would lead to bloodshed.<\/p>\n

They later planned to take power in March, the former officer said, but that plan leaked. Finally, the dissidents looked to the May 20 election, during which Mr. Maduro was re-elected<\/a>, as a new target date. But again, word got out and the plotters held their fire.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how many of these details the coup planners shared with the Americans. But there is no indication that Mr. Maduro knew the mutinous officers were talking to the Americans at all.<\/p>\n

For any of the plots to have worked, the former commander said, he and his comrades believed they needed to detain Mr. Maduro and other top government figures simultaneously. To do that, he added, the rebel officers needed a way to communicate securely. They made their request during their second meeting with the American diplomat, which took place last year.<\/p>\n

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Lawmakers in Caracas last month. The plotters considered striking last summer, when the government suspended the powers of the legislature and installed a new assembly loyal to Mr. Maduro.
Cristian Hernandez\/EPA, via Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

The American diplomat relayed the request to Washington, where senior officials turned it down, American officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were frustrated,\u201d said the former Venezuelan commander. \u201cThere was a lack of follow-through. They left me waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American diplomat then met the coup plotters a third time early this year, but the discussions did not result in a promise of material aid or even a clear signal that Washington endorsed the rebels\u2019 plans, according to the Venezuelan commander and several American officials.<\/p>\n

Still, the Venezuelan plotters could view the meetings as tacit approval of their plans, argued Peter Kornbluh, a historian at the National Security Archive at George Washington University.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States always has an interest in gathering intelligence on potential changes of leadership in governments,\u201d Mr. Kornbluh said. \u201cBut the mere presence of a U.S. official at such a meeting would likely be perceived as encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement, the White House called the situation in Venezuela \u201ca threat to regional security and democracy\u201d and said that the Trump administration would continue to strengthen a coalition of \u201clike-minded, and right-minded, partners from Europe to Asia to the Americas to pressure the Maduro regime to restore democracy in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

American officials have openly discussed the possibility that Venezuela\u2019s military could take action.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 1, Rex W. Tillerson, who was secretary of state at the time, delivered a speech<\/a> in which he said the United States had not \u201cadvocated for regime change or removal of President Maduro.\u201d Yet, responding to a question afterward, Mr. Tillerson raised the potential<\/a> for a military coup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen things are so bad that the military leadership realizes that it just can\u2019t serve the citizens anymore, they will manage a peaceful transition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Days later, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has sought to shape the Trump administration\u2019s approach toward Latin America, wrote a series of Twitter posts that encouraged dissident members of the Venezuelan armed forces to topple their commander in chief.<\/p>\n

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Venezuelans waiting to register with the Brazilian immigration authorities in April. The economic collapse has set off an exodus of desperate Venezuelans.
Meridith Kohut for The New York Times<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSoldiers eat out of garbage cans & their families go hungry in Venezuela while Maduro & friends live like kings & block humanitarian aid,\u201d Mr. Rubio wrote<\/a>. He then added<\/a>: \u201cThe world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a speech in April, when he was still White House policy chief for Latin America, Mr. Cruz issued a message to the Venezuelan military<\/a>. Referring to Mr. Maduro as a \u201cmadman,\u201d Mr. Cruz said all Venezuelans should \u201curge the military to respect the oath they took to perform their functions. Honor your oath.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the crisis in Venezuela worsened in recent years, American officials debated the pros and cons of opening lines of dialogue with rebellious factions of the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were differences of opinion,\u201d said Ms. Aponte, the former top Latin America diplomat under Mr. Obama. \u201cThere were people who had a lot of faith in the idea that they could bring about stability, help distribute food, work on practical stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

But others \u2014 including Ms. Aponte \u2014 saw considerable risk in building bridges with leaders of a military that, in Washington\u2019s assessment, has become a pillar of the cocaine trade and human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

Roberta Jacobson, a former ambassador to Mexico who preceded Ms. Aponte as the top State Department official for Latin America policy, said that while Washington has long regarded the Venezuelan military as \u201cwidely corrupt, deeply involved in narcotics trafficking and very unsavory,\u201d she saw merit in establishing a back channel with some of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the broader breakdown in institutions in Venezuela, there was a feeling that \u2014 while they were not necessarily the answer \u2014 any kind of democratic resolution would have had to have the military on board,\u201d said Ms. Jacobson, who retired from the State Department this year. \u201cThe idea of hearing from actors in those places, no matter how unsavory they may be, is integral to diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whatever the rationale, holding discussions with coup plotters could set off alarms in a region with a list of infamous interventions: the Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s failed Bay of Pigs invasion<\/a> to overthrow Fidel Castro as leader of Cuba in 1961; the American-supported coup in Chile<\/a> in 1973, which led to the long military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet; and the Reagan administration\u2019s covert support<\/a> of right-wing rebels known as the contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

In Venezuela, a coup in 2002 briefly deposed Mr. Maduro\u2019s predecessor, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez. The United States knew a plot was being hatched but warned against it, according to a classified document that was later made public. The coup took place anyway and the George W. Bush administration opened a channel to the new leader. Officials then backed away from the new government after popular anger rose against the coup and countries in the region loudly denounced it. Mr. Ch\u00e1vez was reinstated as president.<\/p>\n

In the latest coup plot, the number of military figures connected to the plan dwindled from a high of about 300 to 400 last year to about half that after a crackdown this year by Mr. Maduro\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

The former Venezuelan military officer worries that the 150 or so comrades who have been detained are probably being tortured. He lamented that the United States did not supply the mutineers with radios, which he believes could have changed the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m the least affected. I\u2019m not a prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 9, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Met Rebels From Venezuela About Coup Plot.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 nytimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 Sep 2018 – Establishing a clandestine channel with coup plotters in Venezuela was a big gamble for Washington, given its long history of covert intervention across Latin America. Many in the region still deeply resent the US for backing previous rebellions, coups and plots in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil and Chile, and for turning a blind eye to the abuses military regimes committed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":118200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-and-the-caribbean"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}