BOGOTA – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro touted a video showing a scruffy-looking American divulging details about a failed invasion as proof Wednesday that U.S.
authorities backed an alleged attempt to forcibly remove him from power. Maduro aired a video of Luke Denman on state television in which the 34-year-old Texas native claims he signed a contract with a Florida-based company to train rebel troops and carry out the assault in exchange for up to $100,000. “I was helping Venezuelans take back control of their country,” he said.
Denman and Airan Berry, both former U.S. special forces soldiers who served in Iraq, were detained Monday following what authorities described as a botched beach landing in the fishing village of Chuao.