Erik
Prince - the founder of the controversial private security firm
Blackwater and a prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump -
has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple
Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, four sources with
knowledge of the effort told Reuters.
Over the
last several months, the sources said, Prince has sought investment
and political support for such an operation from influential Trump
supporters and wealthy Venezuelan exiles. In private meetings in the
United States and Europe, Prince sketched out a plan to field up to
5,000 soldiers-for-hire on behalf of Venezuelan opposition leader
Juan Guaido, according to two sources with direct knowledge of
Prince’s pitch.
One
source said Prince has conducted meetings about the issue as recently
as mid-April.
White
House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis declined to
comment when asked whether Prince had proposed his plan to the
government and whether it would be considered. A person familiar with
the administration’s thinking said the White House would not
support such a plan.
Venezuela
opposition officials have not discussed security operations with
Prince, said Guaido spokesman Edward Rodriguez, who did not answer
additional questions from Reuters. The Maduro government did not
respond to a request for comment.
Some
U.S. and Venezuelan security experts, told of the plan by Reuters,
called it politically far-fetched and potentially dangerous because
it could set off a civil war. A Venezuelan exile close to the
opposition agreed but said private contractors might prove useful, in
the event Maduro’s government collapses, by providing security for
a new administration in the aftermath.
A
spokesman for Prince, Marc Cohen, said this month that Prince “has
no plans to operate or implement an operation in Venezuela” and
declined to answer further questions.
Lital
Leshem - the director of investor relations at Prince’s private
equity firm, Frontier Resource Group - earlier confirmed Prince’s
interest in Venezuela security operations.
“He
does have a solution for Venezuela, just as he has a solution for
many other places,” she said, declining to elaborate on his
proposal.
The two
sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s pitch said it calls for
starting with intelligence operations and later deploying 4,000 to
5,000 soldiers-for-hire from Colombia and other Latin American
nations to conduct combat and stabilization operations.
Full
report:
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