Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the bonkers story of a botched invasion attempt of Venezuela, reportedly led by a group of US-based mercenaries. They explain the truly bizarre backstory of the head merc, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau; discuss how a slapdash plan to topple President Nicolás Maduro reportedly came together in partial coordination with the Venezuelan opposition; and zoom out to look at what this fiasco says about Venezuelan politics and the role of private military contractors in world affairs. There is, of course, a lengthy discussion of Machiavelli.

References:

There are a lot of good reports on what happened, but this one by the Washington Post is comprehensive and easy to understand.

Here’s the video of Jordan Goudreau announcing the raid.

Now you can dig around Silvercorp USA’s Instagram page just like Jenn.

This story from the Sun-Sentinel details Goudreau’s Puerto Rico trip to make money.

Here’s a tweet featuring images of the IDs of the two captured Americans.

The New York Post has a video of the moment the mercenaries were detained.

New York magazine details some of the sillier moments.

Hosts:

Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent, Vox

Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), senior foreign editor, Vox

Alex Ward (@AlexWardVox), national security reporter, Vox

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