As U.S. officials continue to reject Venezuela’s recent election results, Erik Prince, the founder of the notorious Blackwater mercenary group, has released a video addressing the nation’s opposition protesters, sparking fears that his private military forces might become involved.

“Your friends from the north, though we’re not with you today, we’re coming soon. We support you to the end,” Prince declared in a social media video addressing Venezuelan opposition protesters. He added in a caption attached to the video, published 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.”

Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL turned private security executive, gained infamy through his Blackwater mercenary group, which Human Rights Watch accused of going on a “deadly rampage” in Iraq. The 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, where 17 Iraqi civilians were killed, stood out as a grim example of Washington’s failed regime change war in Iraq, with a U.S. federal jury later finding Blackwater guards guilty of the murders.

Despite Blackwater becoming a significant asset to the Bush Jr. administration, with involvement in a CIA assassination program and the expansion of the group into what was described as the private wing of the U.S. military, all of this came to an end under the Obama administration.

However, Erik Prince began to stage a comeback during Donald Trump’s presidency, allegedly growing close to the administration by advocating for the privatization of the decades-long war in Afghanistan. Yet, this resurgence was tainted by a controversial mercenary fiasco in Libya involving warlord Khalifa Haftar.

According to four sources cited by Reuters, in 2019, the Blackwater private security firm founder, Erik Prince, was pressing the Trump administration to deploy a private army into Venezuela to topple the democratically elected socialist leader Nicolas Maduro. Prince reportedly spent months attempting to secure financial backing and political support for the project.

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

During the Biden administration, Prince has not retreated from the spotlight, sparking fears that he is merely waiting for Donald Trump’s potential return to power to pursue further mercenary ventures. He has since launched a podcast, where earlier this year, he openly advocated for the U.S. to colonize Africa and Latin America, stating, “It’s time for us to just put the imperial hat back on, to say, we’re going to govern those countries.” He added that he believed, “You can say that about pretty much all of Africa; they’re incapable of governing themselves.”

According to a UN Group of Experts monitoring the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s arms embargo, evidence suggests that Erik Prince attempted to broker a deal to deploy a 2,500-strong mercenary force into the war-torn nation’s mineral-rich North Kivu region. The Times also reported that Prince had persuaded the Israeli government to purchase sophisticated mining equipment to flood the hundreds of miles of Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza shortly after the eruption of war on October 7.

Commenting on Gaza’s tunnel infrastructure, Prince stated, “I provided the Israelis a fully funded, donated ability to flood Gaza with seawater.” However, despite Israeli efforts to flood the estimated 300 miles of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, the project ultimately failed.

Haaretz revealed that Prince had business dealings 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 “long-standing ties with Israeli financier Dorian Barak, formerly Harow’s business partner.”

Reports have also surfaced that a private security firm may take over the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza, relieving the Israeli occupying forces of this responsibility. The Times of Israel noted that “negotiations are ongoing with the unnamed company, which employs former elite U.S. soldiers and specializes in securing strategic sites in Africa and the Middle East. Israel and the U.S. will assist the firm if needed.” Al-Mayadeen later cited sources claiming the company to be Erik Prince’s Reflex Responses (R2).

Prince’s video message published on August 17 suggests his intent to become involved in Venezuela. Given his extensive history of involvement in conflict zones worldwide, the video could indicate more than just a show of solidarity.

Feature photo | Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm Blackwater, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. Alex Brandon | AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

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