A new journalistic investigation revealed that Argentina's army contemplated the invasion of Venezuela, between April and July 2019, under the government of former President Mauricio Macri, who supported the U.S. military strategy to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.
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Through the Puma exercise, which contemplated the invasion of Venezuela, the armed force executed 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.
New evidence shows that Mauricio Macri right-wing government was making active preparations for a coordinated invasion of Venezuela together with the US back in 2019. Latin America’s right-wing has to be the most anti-patriotic and treasonous political force in the world! https://t.co/4qCbddSxy0
— Denis Rogatyuk (@DenisRogatyuk) February 13, 2022
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 charge of Venezuela and Cuba within 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 Argentine 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 take part under humanitarian reasons, according to the statement of General Juan Martin Paleo himself.
"Regardless of the political and moral value of a plan to invade Venezuela in which Argentine soldiers would do the dirty work for the United States, from the tactical point of view, more than two years after the end of Exercise Puma, the assumptions on which it was based have been proved wrong", said Verbitsky.
"The situation in Venezuela has stabilized, the United Nations has not ordered the formation of any multinational intervention force and the political forces of the ruling party and the opposition are settling their differences at the ballot box", he pointed out.