(Caracas) A Venezuelan court imposed sentences of 21 to 30 years in prison on 29 people convicted of participating in a failed attempt in 2020 to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
The maritime incursion, dubbed “Operation Gedeon”, was foiled in May, with eight members of the commando being killed by the army.
Caracas has always claimed that the operation was led by retired soldiers and foreign mercenaries, and financed by the opposition which has always denied the allegations.
Prosecuted for terrorism, treason and arms trafficking, “twenty were sentenced to thirty years in prison and nine to 21 years,” declared Attorney General Tarek William Saab after a hearing before an anti-terrorism court.
“A dark episode in Venezuelan history is beginning to close,” Mr. Saab wrote on X, reaffirming that “foreign actors and powers” were involved in “this mercenary operation […] which aimed to assassinate officials at the highest levels,” including President Maduro.
According to Mr. Saab, some members of the commando are still at large.
An NGO, Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy, published the names of those convicted, including Josnars Adolfo Baduel, the son of a general who turned against Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez ( 1999-2013).
Mr Baduel’s sister Andreina claims her brother was subjected to “torture” in detention and called his sentence “unjust”.
“Judicial power has been misused by the state,” she told AFP, adding that the sentence would be appealed, if possible before international courts.
Last year, prosecutor Saab accused former opponent Juan Guaidó – briefly recognized by the United States and other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president after Mr Maduro’s disputed re-election in 2018 – of financing the operation with American funds then under his control.
Two Americans sentenced to twenty years in prison in this case were released as part of a prisoner exchange.