Robert Inlakesh

As US officials continue to deny the recent election results in Venezuela, Erik Prince, the founder of the notorious mercenary group Blackwater, has released a video addressing the country’s opposition parties, sparking fears that his private military forces could be involved.

“Your friends from the north, although we are not here today, we will come soon. We will support you until the end,” Prince said in a social media video addressing Venezuelan opposition protesters. He added in a caption to the video, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “To all those in the security forces, choose the side of freedom, not the side of socialist gangsters. We are watching and justice will be done.”

Peace be with all of you in Venezuela. To all of you in the security forces, choose the side of Freedom. Not the side of socialist gangsters.

We watch and justice will prevail. photo.twitter.com/yaAM8eBqkm

— ErikDPrince (@realErikDPrince) August 17, 2024

Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL turned private security executive, gained notoriety for his Blackwater mercenary group, which Human Rights Watch accused of a “deadly rampage” in Iraq. The 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed, was a stark example of Washington’s failed regime change war in Iraq. A U.S. federal jury later found Blackwater guards guilty of the killings.

Although Blackwater was a key asset to the Bush Jr. administration, through its involvement in a CIA assassination program and the group’s expansion into what was described as the private branch of the U.S. military, this came to an end under the Obama administration.

However, Erik Prince began to stage a comeback during Donald Trump’s presidency, reportedly moving closer to the government by advocating for the privatization of the decades-long war in Afghanistan. However, this revival was tarnished by a controversial mercenary debacle in Libya involving warlord Khalifa Haftar.

According to four sources cited by Reuters, the founder of private security firm Blackwater, Erik Prince, urged the Trump administration in 2019 to send a private army to Venezuela to overthrow democratically elected socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. Prince reportedly spent months trying to secure financial and political backing for the project.

In 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned the Blackwater contractors convicted of the 2007 Baghdad massacre, despite a U.S. government memorandum acknowledging that “none of the victims were insurgents or posed a threat to the Raven 23 convoy.”

During the Biden administration, Prince has not retreated from the spotlight, fueling fears that he is simply waiting for the potential return of Donald Trump to power to pursue further mercenary adventures. He has since started a podcast, in which he openly advocated for US colonization of Africa and Latin America earlier this year, stating: “It’s time for us to just put the imperial hat back on and say we’re going to govern these countries.” He added that he believed: “You can say that about pretty much all of Africa; they are incapable of governing themselves.”

According to a UN group of experts monitoring the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) arms embargo, evidence suggests that Erik Prince attempted to broker a deal to deploy a 2,500-man mercenary force to the war-torn country’s mineral-rich North Kivu region. The Times also reported that Prince persuaded the Israeli government to buy advanced mining equipment to flood hundreds of miles of Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza shortly after the war broke out on October 7.

Commenting on Gaza’s tunnel infrastructure, Prince stated, “I have offered the Israelis a fully funded, donated opportunity to flood Gaza with seawater.” Despite Israeli efforts to flood the estimated 300 miles of tunnels under the Gaza Strip, the project ultimately failed.

Haaretz revealed that Prince did business with Ari Harow, former Bureau Chief for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who later pleaded guilty to fraud and breach of trust. The Israeli news outlet also uncovered evidence that Prince “has longstanding ties to Israeli financier Dorian Barak, formerly Harow’s business partner.”

Reports have also surfaced that a private security firm could take over the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, relieving the Israeli occupation force of that responsibility. The Times of Israel noted that “negotiations are underway with the unnamed company, which employs former elite US soldiers and specializes in securing strategic locations in Africa and the Middle East. Israel and the US will assist the company if necessary.” Al-Mayadeen later cited sources as saying the company was Erik Prince’s Reflex Responses (R2).

Prince’s video message, released on August 17, suggests his intention to get involved in Venezuela. Given his extensive history of involvement in conflict zones around the world, the video could mean more than just an expression of solidarity.

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Via https://libya360.wordpress.com/2024/08/24/private-wars-from-gaza-to-venezuela-erik-prince-plots-his-next-move/