Ex-Green Beret Luke Denman thought he was helping the U.S. to free Venezuelans from corruption when he signed onto a plan to overthrow the country’s president, according to his family.
Denman was part of a failed mission to overthrow authoritarian ruler President Nicolás Maduro. He was captured with another American last week.
The Wall Street Journal reports his family has been trying to find out how Denman got involved in the mission and trying to appeal to the U.S. government to get him out of a Venezuelan prison.
The newspaper reports that Denman’s family believes his was misled by the force’s organizers. They claim he thought the mission was backed by the government and President Donald Trump. The president and White House deny any direct involvement in the situation.
Denman’s family told the Wall Street Journal their calls to the State Department have gone unreturned.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly said he was working on bringing Americans home once their nationalities were confirmed.
Daniel Dochen, a childhood friend of Denman, said he spoke to Denman before the start of the May mission.
Dochen told The Wall Street Journal that Denman was told the “U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would send a helicopter to whisk Mr. Maduro away to the U.S. once he was overthrown.”
“He messaged at one point or another, they had gotten the green light from Trump,” Dochen said in an interview.
Friends said Denman was assured the mission was fully sanctioned by the U.S. government and was given rules of engagement to follow.
His brother Mark Denman said he warned his brother to check jobs he was offered to make sure they were official.
“I told him, when you’re going somewhere wearing the uniform of a U.S. soldier, there’s a certain amount of responsibility that, in the public light, they have,” Mark Denman said. “When you’re operating under these contracts, God knows.”
Mark Denman said it looked like his brother had been betrayed and sold out. He said his brother may have been convinced to participate in the Venezuela job because he trusted the person who asked. Silvercorp USA, a private firm founded by former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, is taking responsibility for the situation.
Venezuela’s government released videos of Denman and another captured American.
“I thought I was helping the Venezuelans take back control of their country,” Denman says in the video.
He said he expected to receive between $50,000 and $100,000 for the job.
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