User:Orgullomoore/rationale supporting title of 2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon

Context

"2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon" is the proposed name that most closely conforms to the policy on article titles.

The policy laid out at Wikipedia:Article titles requires consideration of "all five of the criteria for article titles" (recognizability, naturalness, precision, concision, and consistency). Operation Gideon is the name that best satisfies these criteria.

Recognizability

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The name "Operation Gideon" is more recognizable than saying, e.g., "2020 Venezuelan incursion," "2020 Venezuelan attempt to spark a popular uprising," "2020 Venezuelan botched coup," "2020 Venezuelan incident," or "2020 Venezuelan coup attempt."

Naturalness

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Operation Gideon is a natural way that readers are likely to look or search for and that editors would naturally use to link to the article from other articles based on the sources that address this topic.

Precision

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When sources want to be explicit about the event they are referring to, they invoke the name of "Operation Gideon." Even the BBC article that has been advanced in support of the campaign to move this page to "2020 Venezuelan coup attempt" says:

Notice that it does not say: "The 2020 Venezuelan coup attempt was deeply flawed."

Other examples illustrating this point follow:

  • In this letter from the Special Rapporteur to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, footnote 1 says:
El 3 de mayo de 2020, el gobierno de Venezuela anunció que en la costa de Macuto, en el estado de La Guaira, las fuerzas armadas de Venezuela frenaron una incursión armada destinada a asesinar al presidente de Venezuela. A dicho suceso se le conoció como “Operación Gedeón”.
On May 3, 2020, the Venezuelan government announced that on the coast of Macuto, in the state of La Guaira, Venezuelan armed forces stopped an armed incursion aimed at assassinating the president of Venezuela. This event became known as "Operation Gideon".

— Letter from Special Rapporteur to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 April 2021


  • In this 2020-08-08 Reuters piece:
  • In this 2020-09-02 Washington Post article:

These quotes show that, even when sources call it a coup attempt, an incursion, an attempt to spark a popular uprising, a botched coup, a ragtag effort, etc., when they want to specify which coup attempt, incursion, attempt to spark a popular uprising, botched coup, or ragtag effort, they invoke the codename "Operation Gideon." The above-quoted excerpts illustrate that "Operation Gideon" provides precision when an author is struggling with what to call this event. They show that "Operation Gideon," after the dust settled, is what the bizarre, murky, whatchamacallit of an event came to be known as.

Concision

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Pursuant to the relevant policy page, [t]he title [should be] no longer than necessary to identify the article's subject and distinguish it from other subjects. The title of "2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon" is not unreasonably verbose. "Operation Gideon" is a concise way of referring to the botched maritime incursion and coup attempt that occurred in Venezuela in 2020.

Consistency

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Matches "when," "where," and "what" convention

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"2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon" is an improvement upon "Operation Gideon (2020)" insofar as it is a conventional "when", "where" and "what" title.

Application of WP:CODENAME

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An article title of "2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon" is, granted, not completely consistent with typical Wikipedia naming conventions in that it uses an operational codename, contrary to the guidelines found at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Military history. The relevant excerpt from the Manual of Style is:

The emphasis should be placed on "generally," which implies that there will be exceptions. Attention should be paid to why codenames are generally bad titles: because they don't have a when or where and only represent one side. However, in the case of "2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon," the when and where are given, and the third consideration is inapplicable because all sides refer to the event as Operation Gideon, regardless of whether they consider it a terrorist operation, a heroic freedom fighting mission, or a dumb idea. For example:

  • Javier Nieto Quintero in the Twitter video, as reported by Infobae, announcing the operation on 3 May 2020:
Nieto, por su parte, dijo que “hay hombres y mujeres arriesgando su vida por la libertad y los presos políticos”, a la vez que solicita a los miembros de la Fuerza Armada “que se unan a esta gesta libertaria Operación Gedeón”.
Nieto, for his part, said that "there are men and women risking their lives for freedom and political prisoners," while also asking members of the Armed Forces "to join this libertarian mission, Operation Gideon."

—Javier Nieto Quintero announcing launch of operation on 3 May 2020

  • Goudreau
  • Maduro Administration
Adicionalmente, se investiga la participación y financiamiento en actos conspirativos por parte del supuesto gobierno de Guaidó en contra de las autoridades legítimamente constituidas; tales como la denominada “Operación Gedeón”.
Additionally, the involvement and financing in conspiratorial acts by the supposed Guaidó government against the legitimately constituted authorities are being investigated; such as the so-called "Operation Gideon".

— Prosecutor announcing arrest warrant issued against Juan Guaidó on 2023-10-05 [1]

  • Luis Parra
“El diputado Juan Guaidó debe darle una explicación al parlamento y al país, sobre su supuesta participación en la Operación Gedeón, según los testimonios de los involucrados en la misma y el contrato con su supuesta firma”, detalló [Luis] Parra[.]
"Deputy Juan Guaidó must provide an explanation to the parliament and the country regarding his alleged involvement in Operation Gideon, according to the testimonies of those involved and the contract with his alleged signature," said [Luis] Parra[.]

— Últimas Noticias 2020-05-08

  • Family of POWs
  • Survivors
  • Journalists / News Articles










Journal articles



International law and diplomacy context

Rosemary Dicarlo se dirigió a los miembros del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU en una reunión virtual solicitada por Rusia para discutir el intento de incursión armada del 3 y 4 de mayo en las costas venezolanas, llamada “Operación Gedeón” y atribuida por el Gobierno de Venezuela a Colombia y Estados Unidos.
Rosemary DiCarlo addressed the members of the UN Security Council in a virtual meeting requested by Russia to discuss the attempted armed incursion on May 3 and 4 on the Venezuelan coasts, referred to as "Operation Gideon" and attributed by the Venezuelan Government to Colombia and the United States.

— United Nations is against any escalation in Venezuela 2020-05-20

101+ exceptions to WP:CODENAME

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Also, no guideline can be followed 100% of the time, especially when an article title under consideration so closely meets the other four criteria. Among the numerous examples of existing exceptions to the rule are the following 101 (not exhaustive):

Article Title
Operation Mockingbird
Operation Overlord
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Freedom's Sentinel
Operation Inherent Resolve
Operation Onymous
Operation Paperclip
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Bodyguard
Operation Gladio
Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Storm
Operation Condor
Operation Eagle Claw
Operation Torch
Operation Hurricane
Operation Mo
Operation Odyssey Dawn
Operation Hurricane
Operation Plunder
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Northwoods
Operation Payback
Operation Gothic Serpent
Operation Varsity
Operation Ranch Hand
Operation Dragoon
Operation Ring
Operation Bagration
Operation Goldeneye
Operation Compass
Operation Black Thunder
Operation Cyclone
Operation Yewtree
Operation Earnest Will
Operation K
Operation Himmler
Operation Opera
Operation Barkhane
Operation Anaconda
Operation Upshot–Knothole
Operation Juniper Shield
Operation Veritable
Operation Jump Start
Operation Vistula
Operation München
Operation Yellowbird
Operation Atalanta
Operation Woodrose
Operation Roundup (1942)
Operation Game Warden
Operation Junction City
Operation Konrad III
Operation CHAOS
Operation Colombo
Operation Ripper
Operation Killer
Operation Ore
Operation SO and SE
Operation Gibraltar
Operation Southern Watch
Operation Crossroads
Operation Sledgehammer
Operation Little Saturn
Operation Northwind (1944)
Operation Nemesis
Operation Unthinkable
Operation Alphabet
Operation Rheinübung
Operation Crossbow
Operation Rösselsprung (1944)
Operation Swift
Operation Reinhard
Operation Barracuda
Operation Freshman
Operation Crusader
Operation Balak
Operation Baytown
Operation Zarb-e-Azb
Operation Freakout
Operation Tempest
Operation Pluto
Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)
Operation Earnest Voice
Operation Bernhard
Operation Storm
Operation I-Go
Operation Horev
Operation Fortitude
Operation Jericho
Operation Archery
Operation Citadel
Operation Fox Hunt
Operation Pegasus
Operation Red Wings
Operation Iskra
Operation Artemis
Operation Sundevil
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Red Dog