Trump: Involvement in Venezuela plot would be invasion

ANKARA

If the US had taken part in a failed effort to overthrow the Venezuelan government it would have been an "invasion," President Donald Trump said Friday, denying involvement in maritime raids last weekend.

"I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened," Trump told Fox News. "If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion."

He also said he wouldn't rely on a small group for such an operation, adding it would have been "an army."

Trump said he saw pictures of attackers on the beach, where they tried to enter Venezuela, and added it "was not a good attack."

"It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously," he said mockingly.

Venezuela confronted failed two maritime raids on Sunday, an incident the Maduro government held the US responsible for along with Colombia.

Luke Denman and Airan Berry, two US mercenaries, were detained along with 17 armed attackers of Operation Gideon, which was launched to "liberate" Venezuela and capture Maduro.

Maduro revealed Wednesday a contract of the raids allegedly aiming to oust his government.

The contract was signed by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, his advisors Sergio Vergara and Juan Jose Rendon, former US Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who owns SilverCorps USA, a private security firm, and attorney Manuel Retureta.

Although there is no Colombian-linked signature on the contract, Maduro held the Ivan Duque's government responsible for the aggression as well as the US as the two detained Americans confessed in video testimony how the team got to Colombia and organized armed groups to enter Venezuela.

Denman and Berry also confirmed the contract and signatory parties mentioned by Maduro.

"I trained armed groups of Venezuelans because I believed that this would help their 'cause.' I thought this was not the case for irregular armed groups," Denman said in his testimony. "The orders we had were to secure and take the airport to transfer President Nicolas Maduro to the United States."

According to multiple reports, Goudreau claimed responsibility for the raids.

He also confessed he signed a contract with Guaido to overthrow Maduro. Guaido denied the allegation but his advisor Juan Jose Rendon confessed to the media his involvement and that he signed the contract.

However, Diosdado Cabello, the number two man in the Venezuelan government, said Guaido is taking refuge in a European embassy to avoid arrest by prosecutors.

*Michael Hernandez from Washington contributed to the story