“They were playing Rambo,” Maduro said. “They were playing hero.”

Venezuelan security forces arrested at least eight people, including two Americans, after a failed coup aimed at capturing socialist President Nicolas Maduro. This failed coup was allegedly approved by the U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, an allegation that he has denied.

Jordan Goudreau, an ex-Green Beret and the CEO of a Florida-based Silvercorp Corp., said the two Americans, Luke Denman and Aaron Berry, were part of “Operation Gideon” aimed at “liberating Venezuela” by arresting President Nicolas Maduro. The two had served alongside him in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two men were former members of the 10th Special Forces Group. Berry was also a Combat Diver instructor at the Special Forces Underwater Operations (SFUWO).

One of the arrested men is a Venezuelan identified as Josnars Adolfo Baduel, the son of former Defence Minister Raul Isaias Baduel, who is currently jailed on corruption charges.