Between shame and disappointment: the Venezuelan military avoid wearing their uniforms in the streets for fear of popular repudiation

For a few years, identification as a military has ceased to be an option. "It's not that I'm embarrbaded to say that I'm a soldier, but that I avoid it because I do not know how people around me see it.", says Pedro (his name was changed to protect his identity), an active member of the Armed Forces of Venezuela's Armed Forces, in dialogue with Infobae.

Now, walking in the street with the uniform turns out to be something unthinkable, precisely because of the way many people see the army: repressive figure. "There is no longer any respect towards the uniform, towards us. to take care of my physical integrity, I prefer not to use it to leave"

previously, the Venezuelan armed forces were a highly respected institution in society. Venezuelan political scientist Felix Seijas said that, for the last six years or so, the level of confidence of this institution has dropped in such a way that is directly badociated with another government entity, something that had never happened before: "Levels of approval, after having been historically high, as well as those of the Church and the universities, have dropped significantly in the last six years."

Currently, many battalions recommend to their soldiers not to go out in uniform avoid any act of repudiation by citizens towards public servants.

In Venezuela, the military figure is not well seen, having played a leading role in torture, repression, death and ill-treatment of the population.

In street protests between April and July 2017, the joint crackdown by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), Bolivarian militia and paramilitary groups left a line of at least 129 dead, according to the figures of Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS). Other 51 protesters were killed during the first 90 days of 2019.

The political scientist revealed that during the demonstrations of previous years, the repression was mainly aimed at the National Guards in their entirety; However, consider that it has changed. "The FAES and the collectives have played a bigger role, something is happening, the GNB is not the only one to act, it is not as before, it is not today the main body of control internal".

The person in charge of the FANB who spoke with Infobae how his life was in the Venezuelan army and how the situation reached such a point he does not see the time to be able to defect because impotence and disappointment were part of his routine.

His family and five-month-old daughter are rethinking him and questioning the idea of ​​leaving the country without a plan. "I do not do anything with leaving the army and staying in Venezuela. If I have nowhere to go, I will not leave, but I hope to be able to do it by December. ".

Migrating to the south of the continent and dedicating yourself to safety, because of your experience in handling weapons, is one of the many ideas in your head. "A friend told me that she could receive me, but I still have nothing ready, I must first raise funds."

Every day, he gets up and faces the routine: make the corresponding guard to protect the military fort where he works. Everything has become repetitive. When the salary arrives, it dissipates in three. "You work a month so that when you see the result, you realize that you are not earning a salary that allows you to pay for your needs." I feel a little unmotivated with everything that happens because it is not enough and even if the days pbad day by day, it becomes a routine. "

The last time, he collected 45,000 sovereign Bolivars. They do not even reach $ 10, if calculated at the official rate of the moment (5,202.94, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela). Getting the products, being able to survive and support the family is not easy. When everything goes black and the money is not enough, Pedro wants to do only one thing: "Curse the government, everything that's happening and what we're going through"

The director of the Center for Political Studies and Government of Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), Benigno Alarcón, badured that the time when the military career represented an opportunity for social promotion and professionalization without distinction was left behind.

In the last 20 years, the institution has lost the neutral character that characterized it. Now, says Alarcón, there is a military professional whose possibility of promotion within the armed forces it depends fundamentally on his attachment and loyalty to a specific government and not on the merit and demonstrated abilities in his career.

"This damaged the reputation of the army and caused the repudiation of most citizens. The military career was a highly desirable career, which was not questioned by anyone. Having a child in the NBFA was a pride for the family"

In a dictatorship like that of Nicolás Maduro, few soldiers are willing to speak. Some for fear of self-censorship or prohibitions of their superiors; and others by firm beliefs.

However, in the street, doing daily guards, with the sun to the maximum, some also agree to comment on his life in the army.

Maria, a 23-year-old Venezuelan soldier, recounted how difficult her life was in the Venezuelan armed forces. The official who I have not slept or eaten for more than 24 hourshe was preparing to be a sergeant. Being in the army was not something that made her proud and she did not recommend it to anyone. "When my four year old son tells me that he wants to be like me when he grows up, I answer him no, do anything, except this"

He claimed to remain in the army because of pressure from his family, as he had been told that "he should have something to offer his son" and that life at the same time would not be the same. outside "was deteriorating". "Here they treat you like garbage," he says.

One day, walking down the street in uniform, someone shouted: "Cursed chavista"It's only a small part of what he had to listen to, but he's already taking it for something normal because" it's part of the training ".

Many soldiers, with well-established institutional tendencies, choose not to visit certain types of businesses or public institutions. Mariana, who has a brother in the "strategic position" of the NBFA, ensures that her family's political problem is not affected.
"Here in the family, this theme is sacred, for example, if we are in a WhatsApp group and we talk about the issue of power outages, he (his brother) goes out and does not speak, he is very institutionalist. in the street, he prefers not to answer, he withdraws, he will not send you prisoner or anything. "

For Luis, another soldier who stood guard at the Paseo Los Próceres, emblematic monument of Caracas, located in the west of the city, the repudiation of the army is due to the fact that some "do not know how to treat"to the citizens." We lose respect because there are those who are stubborn and who do not know how to treat people and for whom we pay all, "said the 19-year-old.

The army was the way he had managed to collaborate with his family, located in the interior of the country. "I am here to help my mother. She charges for me, I do not charge. The map that she hashe said as he left to continue his routine work.

On 30 April, a group of Venezuelan soldiers tried to seize La Carlota air base, accompanied by Juan Guaidó, president in charge of Venezuela, and Leopoldo López, a politician released from his home by Coalition.

Political scientist Seijas said that despite this movement, the vision of the army in Venezuela remains the same. What citizens perceive is that there is a high command ruled by Nicolás Maduro, while those from below have hardly tended to react.

However, it would be too early to reflect a radical change in citizens' perceptions of military force.

For the director of the Center for Political Studies and Government of UCAB, Benigno Alarcón, the uprising of this group of soldiers could be considered by the citizens as people who dissociated themselves individually from this institution because They do not agree with it.

"The day that the position of institutional neutrality reflects the performance of the entire armed forces, it will positively affect the confidence and acceptance that there is towards the institution. "