US Mercenary Behind Failed Venezuela Coup Is Going Hollywood

The American mercenary behind a spectacularly failed plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government, appears to have begun his own production company, documents obtained by VICE News show.

According to a limited liability agreement filed in Florida, Jordan Goudreau, an ex-Green Beret and the owner of Florida-based mercenary firm Silvercorp USA, incorporated “GOFAST PRODUCTIONS LLC” with a Jen Gatien listed as the registered agent for the company. IMDB lists a Jen Gatien as a veteran film producer, with more than two-dozen credits to her name. 

The documents were filed in June 2021, just over a year after Goudreau—who has avoided the media and criminal charges since the coup attempt—launched the operation. VICE News revealed in October that Goudreau was involved in an unnamed project having to do with his foiled plot and the producers of the hit Netflix series Cocaine Cowboys were allegedly involved. Gatien previously collaborated with the director of that series, Billy Corben, on a 2011 documentary. (​​Rakontur Films, which produced the series, did not respond to emails about GOFAST and about questions regarding its connections to Goudreau.)

“Operation Gideon,” as Goudreau dubbed the failed coup, resulted in the deaths of at least six of the approximately 60 expatriate Venezuelan soldiers he recruited into the mission. Two of his former colleagues in the Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, brought into the beleaguered mission were left imprisoned in a Caracas jail. The latest news that Goudreau, who has given just one interview since December 2020 (to Rolling Stone), is turning his eye toward the big screen while his brothers-in-arms languish in cells underlines the farcical nature of one of 2020’s most absurd geopolitical events, which has already inspired a fictionalized film treatment. 

“I don’t have any information for you,” said Jesus Garcia-Montes, a Miami-based lawyer representing Goudreau, when asked about his client’s film company. “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

Multiple requests for comment to Gatien about GOFAST Productions weren’t returned, but email tracking software showed she had viewed the emails over a dozen times. Two sources familiar with Goudreau’s activities since Operation Gideon confirmed the company was believed to be involved in the film business.

Mark Denman, Luke’s brother, began the not-for-profit organization, the American Rescue Coalition, to help bring both ex-Green Berets home from Venezuela, and said Goudreau has a lot to account for since the failed coup. 

“I am very interested to see how Jordan accounts for himself, what evidence he has to present on how this operation came to be and who was involved, and most importantly how he explains his behavior on the day of Luke and Airan being taken captive and ignoring their imprisonment since then,” he said to VICE News in a statement.

In early May 2020, the Nicolas Maduro regime, under intense pressure from Western governments which recognized his rival Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, announced that an amphibious assault on its capital led by Goudreau (remotely from the shores of Florida) had been thwarted by its security forces. What followed was an international incident that involved President Donald Trump’s inner circle, the CIA, a Kraft family heir, and other operators who circled the Latin American political scene. Though Washington has continually denied official sponsorship of Operation Gideon, Maduro has used it as an example of American aggression and meddling.

For its part the Biden administration has been mostly mum on its position regarding Venezuela. It hasn’t yet begun negotiations for Denman and Berry, two decorated combat veterans of the War On Terror, who have been characterized as political hostages held by Maduro. Both men were sentenced to decades of prison time in Venezuela for their part in Operation Gideon.