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US mercenaries in ‘Rambo-style’ failed Venezuela coup called Maduro ‘jackpot’ & tried ‘capturing the sitting president’
TWO former Green Berets who took part in a botched coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have revealed "jackpot" was their code word for the leader.
Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were shown wearing orange prison uniforms in edited footage broadcast on Venezuelan state television on Monday.
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The mercenaries apparently admitted to using the phrase for the South American leader in the mission to capture and transport him to the United States.
"It was a word we used to talk about the person we're after - the hostage or the military target," Denman said, as reported by the .
Venezuelan authorities said the videos were filmed during an interrogation on Sunday in .
It is the first new video of the Americans to be released since they appeared in court on May 8, according to the Mail.
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Denman was asked multiple questions about the ringleader of the failed raid, former US special forces soldier Jordan Goudreau and whether he had signed a contract detailing the terms and tasks of the mission.
He said he didn't sign a contract but admitted to a "verbal contract" with "vague mission guidelines" on training Venezuelans and shipping Maduro to the US.
The video released of Berry on Monday focuses on the alleged involvement of drug traffickers in the attempt to overthrow Maduro.
Berry reportedly implicated Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido despite him denying any involvement.
When asked why they trained in an area "predominantly operated by drug traffickers", Berry replied: "In our information, we didn't understand or know that we would be traveling through this narco area."
"That information when and where it was planned was known by Sequea and Pimienta and possibly by Guaido, I don't know, but that's the area that they came up with."
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The with dozens of Venezuelans and had said Goudreau was the mastermind behind the foiled "kidnap or kill" plot.
The three ex-military men had served together in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Goudreau offered them the capture job in Venezuela through his -based security firm Silvercorp USA, according to the Mail.
A source who spoke with the New York Post on May 9 alleged that on Maduro's head.
Officials with knowledge of the plot said on May 7 that to Venezuelan training camps ahead of the botched raid.
Venezuelan authorities have accused the American soldiers of "playing Rambo" and allege that President Donald Trump was aware of the coup.
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However, the in what Venezuela has claimed as an assassination attempt on Maduro.
"No we have nothing to do with it," Trump told Fox & Friends on May 8.
"If I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn't make a secret about it."
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Second ex Green Beret, Airan Berry, paraded on Venezuelan TV says he knows failed coup attempt against Maduro was ‘illegal’
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