Former Soldier Jordan Goudreau Arrested in Connection to Failed Venezuelan Coup

Jordan Goudreau, the former Green Beret who in 2020 failed to lead a renegade uprising in Venezuela, will face federal charges for what has come to be known as the “Bay of Piglets.”

Rolling Stone has obtained an unsealed indictment, filed on July 16, which accuses him and a partner, a Venezuelan who lived in Colombia named Yacsy Alvarez Mirabal, of conspiracy, smuggling, violating arms laws, and unlawful possession of a machine gun, among other charges. Authorities arrested Goudreau on Tuesday morning. He is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

“Goudreau, Alvarez, and others conspired to export AR-type firearms, night vision devices, laser sights, and other equipment from the United States to Colombia, without obtaining the required export licenses, to carry out an armed incursion into Venezuela to remove [Venezuelan President] Nicolás Maduro Moros from power,” the introduction to the conspiracy section of the indictment reads.

Goudreau’s attorney did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment. A rep for the United States Attorney’s Office declined further comment beyond what was already on the public docket. Alvarez’s attorney told The Associated Press, “She will plead not guilty to these charges this afternoon, and as of right now, under our system, they are nothing more than allegations.”

Rolling Stone detailed the alleged incursion in a 2020 feature, explaining how Goudreau and other ex–Special Forces operatives reportedly planned on loading boats with guns, ammo, and some 50 Venezuelan fighters with an eye toward displacing Maduro. The mission, Operation Gideon, was a failure. Goudreau later claimed it was done with the knowledge of then-President Trump. “Look, I’m responsible for everything I do or fail to do,” Goudreau said in the article. “I’m not, ‘Oh, it wasn’t me.’ That ain’t me, man. I fucked up. I own it. It’s on me. But at the same time, there’s reasons why.”

In the indictment, the government alleges Goudreau and Alvarez operated their conspiracy between November 2019 and March 2020 during which time they planned on exporting the aforementioned “defense articles” from the U.S. to Colombia. The feds claim Goudreau texted equipment distributors on Nov. 7, 2019, “Here is the list, bro,” and detailed AR-style guns, ballistic helmets, and other means of warfare. Goudreau also allegedly wrote texts about the “place you are picking up the ammo” and things like, “We def need our guns.” The indictment claims Colombian authorities recovered 24 semiautomatic, AR-style rifles from the defendants on March 23, 2020.

Goudreau spent 15 years in the Army, earning three gold stars and the rank of sergeant first class while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. The soldier claimed responsibility for the Venezuelan invasion in 2020, saying he trained fighters in Colombia. His goal, he told Rolling Stone, was to liberate the Venezuelan people and install Juan Guaidó as president. Ultimately, Venezuelans had installed a spy and it fell apart.

“Had we succeeded, you really think that the Guaidó administration would have said, ‘That’s not us, we want nothing to do with this’?” Goudreau told Rolling Stone. “Do you think that Donald Trump would have said, ‘That wasn’t us’? Every motherfucker that I talked to would have said, ‘That was us! U.S.A., baby!’ They would have taken credit for all of it. And if you say it’s not true, you’re pretty naive.”

The indictment coincides with Maduro’s supposed reelection. The AP reports, however, that the U.S. is not recognizing his win, insisting on seeing election results. Maduro’s opponent, Edmundo González, claims to have won by a two-to-one margin.

Another Operation Gideon associate, Cliver Alcalá, who was once a Venezuelan army general, was sentenced in Manhattan to more than two decades of providing weapons to rebels, according to The AP.

This article was corrected at 10:47 p.m. on July 31 to reflect that Goudreau remains in custody and was not granted bail.