Washington: Former National Security Advisor to the White House, John Bolton, has admitted to planning foreign coups.
In an interview with an American news channel, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a close aide of Donald Trump said that Trump was not competent enough to pull off a “carefully planned coup d’etat,” later adding, “as somebody who has helped plan coups d’etat – not here but you know (in) other places – it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what he (Trump) did.”
Jake Tapper: "One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup."
John Bolton: "I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup d’etat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work." pic.twitter.com/REyqh3KtHi
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022
When asked what he was referring to, Bolton said that he was “not going to get into the specifics” before mentioning Venezuela.
“It turned out not to be successful. Not that we had all that much to do with it, but I saw what it took for an opposition to try and overturn an illegally elected president, and they failed,” he said.
In 2019, Bolton, as a national security adviser, publicly supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s call for the military to back his effort to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro, arguing that Maduro’s re-election was illegitimate. Ultimately Maduro remained in power.
“I feel like there’s other stuff you’re not telling me (beyond Venezuela),” the anchor said, prompting a reply from John Bolton, “I’m sure there is.”
Jake Tapper follows up on John Bolton's past coup planning.
Bolton: "I’m not going to get into the specifics, but–"
Tapper: "Successful coups?"
Bolton brings up the failed Venezuelan coup, prompting Tapper to add: "I feel like there’s other stuff you’re not telling me." pic.twitter.com/bJAa07h8Ow
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022
Over the years, many foreign policy experts have criticized Washington’s history of interventions in other countries, from its role in 1953 overthrowing of then Iranian nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the Vietnam war to its invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan this century.
But it is highly unusual for U.S. officials to openly acknowledge their role in stoking unrest in foreign countries.
