- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
At Toronto film fest, the bizarre tale of a failed coup in Venezuela
Former US special forces trying to help overthrow Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro? Check. Speedboats cruising through international waters, private unmarked planes and Venezuelan army deserters in the Colombian jungle? Check.
Filmmaker Jen Gatien first learned about Jordan Goudreau, a decorated onetime US Army Green Beret now facing federal weapons smuggling charges in connection with a failed 2020 coup attempt in Venezuela, by reading the newspaper.
To her great surprise, when she Googled his phone number and texted him, he replied almost immediately.
So begins the strange and twisting tale of "Men of War," a documentary which made its world premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the largest in North America.
"He's the only mercenary, or the only person to me that's been labeled a mercenary, who never got paid," Gatien told AFP in an interview with co-director Billy Corben.
She explained that the Green Beret motto, which translates roughly from Latin as "Free the Oppressed," was deeply ingrained in Goudreau and his fellow soldiers.
"I think that the mission in Venezuela spoke to something much deeper than money," she said.
- Contracts, and deniability -
Through a mix of original footage obtained from Goudreau and interviews with key players in the saga, interspersed with images from pop culture of Rambo and Jason Bourne, Gatien and Corben lift the lid on a web of intrigue.
Goudreau is a decorated Iraq and Afghanistan US military veteran who founded security company Silvercorp after being medically retired.
"We're in the business of war. And the more you get comfortable with it, the more you do it -- it becomes, like, this drug," Goudreau, now 48, says at the start of the movie.
He found himself at the center of the swirling "Operation Gideon," from its nascent stages in Miami in mid-2019 to an actual effort in May 2020 to use a small group of men to infiltrate Venezuela, join up with other military deserters and oust Maduro.
Misunderstandings with Venezuela's opposition movement, then led by US-backed Juan Guaido, nebulous US government contacts, double-crossings and a lack of resources ultimately doomed the mission before it ever began.
Several insurrectionists were killed, and two Americans -- war buddies of Goudreau who volunteered to help him - spent more than three years in a Venezuelan jail before being freed in 2023.
"Was I in over my head? Yeah," Goudreau admits in the film.
Corben and Gatien say Goudreau definitely has a signed agreement with Guaido -- albeit one with a "Mission: Impossible"-style deniability clause that if things went south, the opposition would disavow the operation.
He also had an audio recording of the signing session with Guaido, who many countries including the United States declared was Venezuela's rightful president after Maduro claimed victory in the disputed 2018 election.
"He has the receipts. Had he not had that recording of that contract signing, I think we all would have just laughed him out of the room," Gatien said.
- 'Fall guy' -
After the failed coup, Goudreau went on the run to Mexico, but later returned home.
The film's final twist is a doozy: after a four-year investigation, Goudreau is arrested by US marshals and charged in federal court.
He has pleaded not guilty, been released on bail and is awaiting trial. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
So given his perilous legal situation, why would Goudreau even agree to make this film?
"He had a really big push to make the film because he really felt that he had been portrayed as the fall guy in this," Gatien said.
The filmmakers say Goudreau's plight reveals a wider problem: what happens to soldiers who are trained to kill when they leave the military?
"What happens to these Captain Americas and GI Joes and GI Janes when the governments are done playing with them?" Corben asks.
Meanwhile, Maduro has once again been accused of a fraudulent reelection victory this past July.
"Due to breaking news and seemingly weekly unfolding events in this story, this is a work in progress that we're screening," Corben said.
TIFF runs through Sunday.
Y.Nakamura--AMWN