The Venezuela Invasion Agreement

The Washington Post has the story about how Juan Guaidó's political strategist signed an agreement with a mercenary to invade Venezuela, the operation that failed and was always doomed to fail. The agreement is dated October 16, 2019 and it has the feel of a video game, with wanton violence, no accountability, and irreality.

The goal of the operation is made explicit and repeated throughout: "The exit/removal of current Venezuelan Regime and entrance/installation of recognized Venezuelan Government."

A lot of it is about money, both up front and later: "Following completion of the project, investors will have a preferred vender [sic] status with the new government in Venezuela" (3) Payment comes however they can get it: "In the event of cash insolvency, Administration may choose to make payments in barrels of oil." (4)

There is a lot of language, none of it believable, about about how the mercenaries were not doing the fighting and would only use force in self-defense. "Service Provide personnel are in an advisory capacity only. They are not combatants. They will not conduct unilateral operations. They will only conduct operations while colocated with Venezuelan Partner Group" (7)

There is a lot of discussion about Rules of Engagement and what you can destroy and kill. Infrastructure is fair game.  Planting mines is all good--no worries, we'll note where we put them. Hezbollah is OK (no, I am not making that up. It's specifically in there). You can detain citizens and search their homes. The whole thing is horrible.

And, naturally, the Venezuelan government had no jurisdiction over the group while it is performing its duties (23). The lunatics run the asylum. Oh, and if anyone sues the group, the Venezuelan government has to pay for its defense (38).

BTW, no one will know these are Americans. "They will do everything possible to conceal their identity to include but not limited to use of partner group uniforms, balaclavas, use of Badges and Credentials" (27).

And the kicker: the group has the right to loot any place it enters for an "objective," including real estate, art, and "money in bank accounts," then charge the Venezuelan government 14% of its value to return it. I am not making that up.

As Geoff Ramsey notes, a lot of this stuff directly violates Venezuela' international agreements. The fact that Juan Guaidó even entertained such nonsense tells you a lot about his judgment. If there's one thing the Venezuelan opposition is really good at, it's shooting itself in the foot.