Venezuelan Revolutionaries Ask For US Military Aid

Venezuelan revolutionary leader Juan Guaido officially requested aid from the U.S. military in ousting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.

An official in Guaido’s camp sent a letter to Navy Admiral Craig Fuller, head of U.S. Southern Command (SouthCom), requesting assistance in “strategic and operations planning” to take down Maduro. The U.S., along with more than 50 other countries, recognizes Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

“As you know, the conditions in Venezuela worsen, as a consequence of the corrupt and incompetent regime of Nicolas Maduro, which tragically, has national security consequences in Venezuela and among her neighbors,” Guiado’s U.S. envoy Carlos Vecchio wrote.

“Of equal concern is the impact of the presence of uninvited foreign forces that place our country and others at risk,” Vecchio continued, likely referencing the members of the Russian military that are in Venezuela to bolster the Maduro regime.

Guaido’s request for U.S. military assistance comes several weeks after the revolutionary leader led a failed uprising against Maduro. In a three-minute video released on April 30, Guaido called for the Venezuelan military to take up arms and force out the dictator.

Maduro held onto power throughout several days of intense protests that resulted in the deaths of at least five people and left dozens of others injured. Maduro had been preparing to exit the country, but Maduro’s allies from the Kremlin convinced him to stay. Maduro also has strong alliances with China and Cuba.

Reports suggest that Guaido believed the revolution had much more support among Venezuela’s military leaders when he made the call to oust Maduro. Just one of Venezuela’s top military officials, the head of secret service Gen. Manuel Figuera, joined Guaido’s cause.

Secret communications between the top military brass and Guaido officials reportedly broke down soon before Guaido’s call to action, if the talks were not sabotaged from the beginning from Maduro military leaders acting as double-agents.