This ain't just another Bay of Pigs fiasco, this is a complete cockup from the start.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on May 6th 2020 at 5:48:19 AM
What. Makes the Bay of Pigs look like the Battle of Midway.
I’m finding it a little difficult to believe the CIA or US Do D could be behind this. The pictures of the gear captured alone are suspect in the extreme, full of stuff no covert operative would be caught dead with and that you’d really only find in the hands of some militia LAR Per, and if it wasn’t for US citizens openly admitting to everything on the internet I’d almost believe it was a set-up.
Edited by archonspeaks on May 7th 2020 at 12:30:11 PM
They should have sent a poet.
She/Her Pronouns
It could be an unsanctioned, private affair.
Course, the CIA did come up with some increasingly Wily E. Coyote level plots to try to off or embarrass Castro, and bungled every single one of them, so its not impossible per say.
The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Even the most outlandish attempts on Castro’s life exhibited a thousand times more planning than this. The fact that they were carrying US photo ID and wearing US flags, for example, is something that would not only never be allowed on any kind of actual covert operation, but screams “private citizen looking for an out”.
The pictures of the captured equipment look unbelievably staged, either that or these idiots have never been within a mile of anything military in their lives.
Edited by archonspeaks on May 7th 2020 at 12:52:19 PM
They should have sent a poet.
Some of the I Ds I spotted look like DOD ID badges. I could be wrong.
Democracy Now has a detailed vid to explain things:
Although one of the persons interviewed mentioned that the event will give Guaido a black eye.
Edited by Ominae on May 7th 2020 at 1:31:32 AM
Foreign Troper
I have 0 sympathies for these captured mercenaries.
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Frankly, this is Erik Prince-level insanity and a ridiculous thing to do, trying to invade during a pandemic.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on May 7th 2020 at 3:02:01 AM
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Do remember that the Trump presidency has, uh, greatly relaxed the American chain of command and quality-assurance mechanisms. It's completely possible that Silvercorp's CEO got US government sanction by talking to Trump and/or Pompeo directly and overselling them on his company's capabilities.
What's precedent ever done for us?
A former ODA member failing this badly is so weird.
Edited by TerminusEst on May 7th 2020 at 4:22:02 AM
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
Captain of the Dead City
PMCs wouldn't operate semi-independently, would they? A la "Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?" I doubt it, but I also hope not.
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. This probably wasn't sanctioned by CIA or any official channel, but it is quite possible that Trump somehow unofficially endorsed it on a whim behind closed doors, making these guys think they had some kind of government back-up.
Trivia:
The founder of Silvercorp had served in the Canadian Forces before he moved to America and served as a Green Beret IIRC.
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
I think Pompeo and Bolton may well have known about it as well, but that's still three notoriously irresponsible idiots rather than a proper operational vetting process.
What's precedent ever done for us?
And Trump and Pompeo both hate Bolton, so that's another hurdle in this "plan".
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Bellingcat just did a followup article on the Venezuelan coup attempt.
The Silvercorp contract, which appears to confuse a military coup with a Venezuela-filmed action movie, was signed by JJ Rendon, who confirmed that the document was legitimate. Rendon is Guiado's chief strategist, and one of the most influential right-wing/centre-right political activists in South and Central America - he also ran the presidential campaigns of Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos, Honduras's Porfirio Lobo Sosa (who previously gained office in a military coup against the left-wing Manuel Zelaya), and Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto. In other words, he's a man with major connections.
Interesting vid here on the aftermath and what can Washington do:
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Also, the gang war in Petare now has the Boliviarian Army being send there to deal with it.
The fights have being lasting days by now, and well, the government acted eventually. So you get drug cartels vs drug cartels vs the biggest drug cartel.
Poor citizens of Petare
Watch me destroying my country
The two former US soldiers have been charged with terrorism and conspiracy.
Edited by zaja on May 9th 2020 at 4:41:57 AM
That seems entirely fair.
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
Agreed.
They're also lucky there isn't a "failed even at being Dick Dastardly levels of pointless douchbaggery" crime to charge them with.
Disasturbator
They're honestly lucky they're not facing a firing squad
New theme music also a box
Foreign Troper
Honestly, the humiliation is almost punishment enough. No serious client will hire these buffoons ever again.
Edited by Forenperser on May 9th 2020 at 11:37:17 AM
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
The open-source journalist website Bellingcat looks at the abortive coup.
One of the most intriguing details is that Silvercorp ran security for multiple Trump rallies. One of the most absurd details is that one of them was apparently armed with a fucking Airsoft gun.
Pompeo said something interesting on April 29, four days before Venezuelan authorities captured the Silvercorp 'assault unit' and a week before Silvercorp's Twitter account announcer the operation:
First, our help to stabilize some of the world’s most unstable places. In Venezuela, I’m pleased to report that the multilateral effort to restore democracy is continuing to build momentum. I’ve asked my team to update our plans to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Caracas so that we are ready to go. As soon as Maduro steps aside, I am confident that we will raise that flag again in Caracas.