Landing On 8 May, four Cuban and eight Venezuelan guerrillas sailed into Venezuelan territorial waters in a warship disguised as a fishing boat, disembarking on two rafts once close enough to the coast. They brought with them
AK-47s and 10,000 in both
U.S. dollars and
Venezuelan bolívars, which they planned to hand over to
Revolutionary Left Movement forces stationed in the Andes who were attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan government. Once they landed, the Venezuelans set off to the east, while the Cubans headed back to the warship.) drowning and forcing the other three to swim to shore.
Confrontation Local fishermen found one of the guerillas' rafts and notified the armed forces. On the evening of 10 May, troops found the three Cubans, commencing a battle which ended the following day. Two were captured; Venezuelan authorities stated the contingent's leader, Antonio Briones Montoto, was killed while trying to escape, but the Cuban government has disputed this, claiming he was covertly executed after the fact. The eight Venezuelans managed to evade capture for 100 days and eventually reach friendly territory. == Aftermath ==