Crisis in Venezuela: another soldier defected

An officer of the Venezuelan National Guard defected on Sunday in Brazil and joined two other sergeants who left yesterday the ranks of the army that meets Nicolás Maduro and who sought refuge in the neighboring country, authorities said.

The three soldiers are in Pacaraima, a Brazilian city bordering Venezuela, and will remain in a refuge for Venezuelan refugees.

Colonel of the Brazilian Navy George Feres Kanaan, operational coordinator of the working group on humanitarian logistics in Roraima, said deserters would receive the same treatment as the one who is seeking asylum on Brazilian soil.

The border between Brazil and Venezuela was the scene of new clashes Sunday, when dozens of protesters clashed with elements of the Venezuelan National Guard to demand the opening of the border, closed for the third day in a row . We lived minutes of maximum tension.

Protesters in the city of Pacaraima in the Brazilian state of Roraima, on the border with Venezuela Venezuela threw stones at Venezuelan troops, who fought back with shots and tear gas that reached the Brazilian soil.

A Brazilian soldier advanced alone to the border to calm Venezuelan soldiers and asked journalists and protesters to back down or go under surveillance.

Later, a group of Brazilian soldiers improvised a cordon to try to calm the clashes near the border and remove the protesters from the Venezuelan National Guard.

Once the conflict ended, dozens of Maduro supporters arrived at the Venezuelan border and hoisted the Venezuelan flag, which had been withdrawn yesterday during one of the most critical moments of clashes on both sides of the border. After shouting against humanitarian aid and US President Donald Trump, supporters of the Venezuelan president are gone.

By the way, the government of Roraima announced Monday that it would declare the state of "public disaster" due to the collapse of the health care system, after the mbadive admission of Venezuelans injured during episodes of violence at the border, according to the authorities. .

A total of 22 Venezuelans were hospitalized for gunshot wounds and shots in Boa Vista, capital of Roraima, after a day of maximum tension and confrontations at the border. Of these, 18 had to undergo surgery.

"We are making an effort to save the lives of these people.At present, the health system is collapsing" due to the mbadive hospitalization of dozens of Venezuelans, said a spokesman for the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, at the Associated Press, with Brazil.

"The idea is that when the public calamity is decreed, the government can urgently buy drugs and rent beds in private hospitals to meet demand." We think this will increase the flow of sick people and injured in the coming days, "said the spokesman.

For the third day in a row, the border between Brazil and Venezuela has been closed. After a tumultuous Saturday and a lot of tension, there were isolated episodes of violence in the afternoon in Pacaraima.

In an official note from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the government of President Jair Bolsonaro condemned the violence perpetrated by the government of Nicolás Maduro and blocked the entrance of humanitarian aid.

"The use of force against the Venezuelan people who wish to receive help definitely characterizes the criminal character of the Maduro regime," the statement said.