General Juan Martin Paleo, who was then commander of the rapid deployment force | Photo: War Zone
Buenos Aires, February 14 (RHC)-- A new journalistic investigation revealed that Argentina's army contemplated the invasion of Venezuela, between April and July 2019, under the government of the now former president Mauricio Macri, who supported the US military strategy to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.
Through the Puma exercise, which contemplated the invasion of Venezuela, the armed force executed in seven sessions in the garrison of Campo de Mayo and by videoconference with the paratrooper brigade of Córdoba, the Mechanized Brigade X of La Pampa and the commands of the Special Operations Force, also of Córdoba.
In the investigation by Argentine journalist Horacio Verbitsky, it was revealed that General Juan Martin Paleo, who was then commander of the rapid deployment force, was in charge of the operation. Since March 2020 he has been Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces.
These events took place at a time when the Government of Donald Trump maintained a policy of siege against Venezuela, which included the imposition of unilateral coercive measures to destabilize the South American country, among other measures, such as backing actions to assassinate President Maduro.
Several South American nations, including Argentina (during Macri's administration, gave their backing to the White House's hostile policy against Venezuela. In the planning of Puma, the rapid deployment force is part of a multinational force, created by a figurative United Nations resolution (which never happened in reality), the investigation revealed.
In addition to the rapid deployment force, with its Command Company and Intelligence Section, troops from the IV Parachute Airborne Brigade, the X Mechanized Infantry Brigade and the Special Operations Force commandos participated.
The extensive investigation by journalist Verbitsky published in "El cohete a la Luna" details the extensive escalation of the Trump administration to overthrow President Maduro, which included several incursions on the ground with the support of the Government of Washington. It also recalls Trump's intention to take on Venezuela and Cuba as part of his National Security Strategy.
The United States will take care of the "anachronistic leftist authoritarian governments of Venezuela and Cuba" because they allow U.S. competitors China and Russia to operate, which "seek to expand their military ties and arms sales in the region," were the guidelines of the Trump Administration.
Regarding the Argentinean participation in the plans against Venezuela, Admiral Craig Faller, head of the Southern Command, visited Buenos Aires and before cadets of the Joint War College of the Armed Forces warned against the threat of China and Venezuela.
The strategy regarding the planned invasion of Venezuela would be supported by an Argentine command that would act for humanitarian reasons, according to the statement of General Juan Martin Paleo himself.
