Home  >  The Documentary Podcast  >  Venezuela's 'Bay of Piglets'
The Documentary Podcast
Venezuela's 'Bay of Piglets'
The Documentary Podcast
Jul 30, 2020

A failed coup in Venezuela - a story of hubris, incompetence, and treachery… At the beginning of May, the government of Nicolas Maduro announced the armed forces had repelled an attempted landing by exiled Venezuelans on the coast north of Caracas. Some were killed, others captured. This was Operation Gideon – an incursion involving a few dozen, poorly-equipped men, and two former US Special Forces soldiers. The hair brained plan to depose Nicolas Maduro, and force a transition in Caracas was conceived by Venezuela's political opposition in neighbouring Colombia, the United States and Venezuela. Command and control of Operation Gideon allegedly lay with another former US Special Forces soldier, Jordan Goudreau. But why would men with decades of military experience between them join a plan that, from the outset, looked like a suicide mission? For Assignment, Linda Pressly goes in search of answers.

Presenter / producer: Linda Pressly Producer in Venezuela: Vanessa Silva Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Jordan Goudreau and Javier Nieto address the Venezuelan people on 3 May, 2020. Credit: Javier Nieto)

More Episodes

Aug 1, 2026
A Chinese dissident's journey

When Chinese policeman Dong Guangping wrote an article commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing, it kicked off a chain of events that led to him serving jail time and losing his job. But it also sparked the beginning of a deep desire to live more freely. So Dong began planning how he might escape China. Just a few weeks ago, back in late May, he finally achieved his dream, having taken the huge risk of crossing China's Yellow Sea in a dinghy to reach South Korean waters. Phoebe Kong, based in the BBC's Hong Kong bureau, explained how rare Dong's achievement really is.

Yemen has faced decades of economic hardship and war, but the khat industry is thriving. Khat is a plant, and when chewed it acts as a stimulant. It is estimated to consume one-third of Yemen's groundwater and occupy much of the country's agricultural land. Dalia Haidar of BBC Arabic has been looking into Yemen's relationship to khat and the problem it can cause.

The Fifth Floor is at the heart of global storytelling on the BBC World Service, bringing you the best stories from journalists in the BBC's 43 language services. We're here to help you make sense of the stories making headlines around the world; to excite your curiosity and to get to grips with the facts. Recent episodes have investigated Russia’s youth armies and how they make soldiers of Ukrainian children; featured the BBC team who were the first journalists to the site of the Nigerian school kidnappings and reflected the effects of internet blackouts in Iran, Uganda and India. If you want to know more about Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the legacy of Hugo Chavez; or how Vladimir Putin’s network of deep cover spies operates; or why Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white South Africans asylum in the US, we have all those stories and more.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Laura Thomas and Caroline Ferguson

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)


26min 37sec



Venezuela's 'Bay of Piglets'

--:--
--:--