Guaido ousts advisers after botched coup attempt

Venezuela's US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido has forced two political advisers to resign following a bungled attempt to topple Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

The fallout from the 3-4 May episode has overtaken the opposition agenda, including an initiative to overhaul the Opec member's national oil industry, and has aggravated discord in Guaido's opposition coalition.

Guaido, who is partially recognized abroad as Venezuela's interim president, said he accepted the resignations of his Miami-based political advisers Juan Jose Rendon and Voluntad Popular (VP) party National Assembly deputy Sergio Vergara, thanking them for their "dedication and commitment" to their country.

Guaido has said he was not involved in the coastal incursions by Venezuelan military deserters that were organized by US mercenaries.

In a televised interview, Rendon said the operation was among the options that had been explored and confirmed the authenticity of what was described as a preliminary contract with Florida-based private security firm Silvercorp, headed by US military veteran Jordan Goudreau. The opposition has not denied allegations Guaido signed the contract.

Guaido's US envoy Carlos Vecchio confirmed the preliminary contacts between the strategic team and Silvercorp. But he said the discussions were cut off in 2019 and asserted that Maduro infiltrated the operation.

A Guaido aide said Rendon and Vergara "sacrificed themselves" to spare the opposition leader from "further embarrassment." But some members of Guaido's political opposition are saying privately that their departure does not go far enough.

In an 8 May statement, Primero Justicia (PJ), a party led by Guaido's shadow foreign minister Julio Borges, called for removing anyone involved in the operation, while "reestablishing the mechanisms of decision-making" to respect opposition unity.

"We worry that energies are put into the creation of a bureaucratic caste and not into political change," PJ said, adding that the National Assembly must carry out an independent investigation to establish responsibilities for the episode.

The US administration, Guaido's leading international patron, has repeatedly denied any direct ties to the debacle, but it has not condemned the incursions.

"This was not an American effort. This was not something that we directed or guided," US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in televised interview today. "It was not us who conducted this little activity a few days ago now."

The government of Colombia, where the former Venezuelan soldiers had trained, has also dismissed Maduro's accusations of involvement.

In foiling the operation, Venezuelan security forces killed eight suspects and detained more than 30 others, including two US special forces veterans.

By Patricia Garip