DETAILS of the US mercenary bid to invade Venezuela have emerged after a copy of a 41-page contract was leaked to the Washington Post this weekend.

Washington-backed usurper Juan Guaido was named as commander-in-chief of the operation and, according the document, he was to provide a $10 million (£8m) bond to the Silvercorp private security firm, to be be paid back depending on its success.

The document reveals a list of individuals and organisations deemed legitimate targets under the terms of the agreement, including President Nicolas Maduro and constituent assembly president Diosdado Cabellero.

Also included were the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the Middle Eastern Islamist militant group Hezbollah, which US Vice-President Mike Pence bizarrely insists operates terrorist cells in Venezuela.

The document states the aim of the operation is “to capture/detain/remove Nicolas Maduro (heretoafter “Primary Objective”), remove the regime and install the recognised Venezuelan President Juan Guaido.”

After successful completion of the operation and the removal of the democratically elected government, the new administration would pay a bumper $10 million bonus to the “service provider.”

The contract states that the “service provider” would remain in Venezuela to provide advice on “counterterrorism, counter-narcotic operations and recovery of stolen Venezuelan financial assets worldwide…”

It is the first time details of the contract signed by US-based security company Silvercorp have been made public since Venezuelan forces foiled a coup attempt launched by mercenaries from Colombian soil last week.

Two former US marines, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, face trial on charges of conspiracy after being caught during the botched coup attempt.

Both men have admitted to being hired by Silvercorp on behalf of Mr Guaido.

Mr Maduro took aim at US President Donald Trump during an online press conference attended by the Morning Star last week. 

He insisted that Mr Trump was “the chief” of the attempted coup, with Venezuela an “obsession” of the White House.

In a carefully worded statement on Wednesday, US Secretary of State and former CIA director Mike Pompeo insisted that “there was no US government direct involvement in this.”

But Mr Maduro said that the coup attempt had been outsourced so that, if it failed, the US government could “wash their hands of it and leave the mercenaries to their luck.”

The coup attempt was planned by former marine Jordan Goudreau, who signed a contract with Mr Guaido on October 16 2019 for $212m (£172m).

The Silvercorp boss, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, provided security for billionaire Richard Branson’s concert in Colombia last year during a previous coup attempt.

On Saturday Venezuelan forces on security operations discovered three abandoned Colombian ships in the Orinoco river loaded with weapons.