Chavez supporters, the army begins to show fractures that trouble the government

Desertions among middle managers are increasing because of the political dispute and the economic debacle; the desertion of the whole country in Washington meant a sharp setback for Maduro

CARACAS.- The

Venezuela

both Presidents retains a revolutionary military leadership determined to resist until the end. They are not allies of Chavism: they are part of it, the most powerful arm for

Nicolás Maduro

stay in control despite lack of popular support, socio-economic debacle and persistent international pressure. But far below, among the troops, far from the gigantic work of importing and distributing food and commodities into the hands of the generals, things are very different.

There is uncertainty, discouragement and desertion: more than 4,000 people in uniform have left the barracks by emigration or towards the Bolivar gold mines. Among them, officers of different ranks, Chavez 's main concern in 2018. More than a hundred were arrested last year, accused of instigating rebellion and betrayal. The most striking are the commanders of special operations, specialists in armed actions.

On each of them the pressure is maintained after the oath of the adversary

Juan Guaidó

as the president in charge, who was waiting from the very first moment for the support of the rebel soldiers. In their environment, they even dreamed of an uprising. The first landslide happened yesterday: Colonel José Luis Silva, military attaché to

Washington

, surprised the leaders and the government by joining the ranks of the opposition and placing themselves under the orders of Guaidó.

"This defense attorney does not recognize Maduro as a usurper and recognizes Guaidó as a legitimate acting president," said Silva. "I called my military brothers to join Guaidó's support," he added.

Shortly after, Guaidó wrote on Twitter: "We welcome him, as well as all those who honestly want to adhere to the Constitution."

The defection of Silva is a shake for Chavez, which is another fact of this last week of vertigo. "They stopped us [despertaron] in the early morning and they sent us to prepare us. When the officer left, we started talking. And we all decided to leave with the winner. "The National Guard recounts anonymously what happened early Monday when 27 of its companions rebelled against the government at the capital's headquarters, Cotiza, the unit that protects a parent from the state." Chavisite elite and, like a good part of the country, his family and himself suffer the consequences of the socio-economic collapse.

The insurgents surrendered the same morning, but their forces allowed about fifty popular districts of Grand Caracas to trigger a demonstration that considerably weakened Chavez. According to Amnesty International, 30 people were killed after six days.

From that day on, doubts grew between the checks. When protests erupted last Wednesday, doubts were dispelled: part of the National Guard refused to repress people in the street with the usual violence. "They will not be able to activate the Zamora plan against the demonstrations, as it happened in 2017, because they fear mbadive disobedience to this order by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and it is why they only use the Special Forces of the Police (FAES), "said Major General Hebert García Plaza, a soldier very close to

Hugo Chavez

and former minister of Maduro, now exiled to the United States.

The reluctance of the National Guards, revealed in downloaded videos on the networks, has forced the government to send to the controversial FAES – units for special actions unknown to public order and famous for extrajudicial executions – to contain the protesters as they know: a free kick. For this, they rely on the help of paramilitary groups, a strange alliance that had already occurred in 2014 and 2017.

"The government had to use the FAES as a last resort to suppress the repression, because the army is listening to the people," Guaidó said yesterday, insisting that the country must return to the streets today. to join the soldiers and explain to them that they can give a favorable opinion. resign thanks to the Amnesty Law which is urgently dealt with by the opposition-dominated National Assembly.

To make the doubts more evident in the environment of presidential power, Reuters has confirmed that 400 Russian mercenaries carrying out secret missions for the Kremlin have traveled to Venezuela to join the presidential security. Work that until now corresponded exclusively to Venezuelans and Cubans.

The Parliament's challenge to Maduro not only raises political and economic successes, but also the first major military defections. In addition to the Washington addition, a retired army officer, Colonel Rubén Paz, participated in a march to Maracaibo, excited by the enthusiasm of those present.

The intelligence services immediately took action: they searched the family's home and took their son into custody. A sergeant attached to the naval police followed the same path accused of revolt, according to local media. Those who preceded him outside were two groups of officers and soldiers in Colombia and Peru, who even claimed to be willing to cross the border to pretend to be what they were. they consider as the new president of the country.

"The Armed Forces are pragmatic: they abandon presidents who lose the support of the population, they avoid military conflicts," said Rocío San Miguel, President of Control Ciudadano and one of the leading experts of Venezuela in military matters .

General Vladimir Padrino López does not think so, much less, not long ago, he was a hero among the soldiers, but his leadership seemed to be cracked. "The soldiers of the country do not accept a president imposed in the shadow of obscure interests or self-proclaimed outside the law.The Bolivarian National Armed Forces defend our Constitution and are guarantors of national sovereignty" said the Minister of Defense. called to the country.

The reality is that Padrino López loses his ancestors. His erratic attitude after the killing of three soldiers during a clash on the border with Colombian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) did not help him. Nor the nocturnal raids in Madrid of their two children, students of the most expensive universities of the Spanish capital and lovers of the
Dolce Vita In conclusion, the great friend (almost his brother), retired General Miguel Rodríguez Torres, is locked up in a dungeon accused of treason.

The Minister of Defense is at the head of the military leadership, the one that Maduro often resorts to to make clear that he possesses the absolute loyalty of the whole army. A little further down, Admiral Remigio Ceballos, Head of Strategic Operational Command (Ceofanb). And next to him, the Chief of Chiefs of Staff, Major General Adelino Ornella, and the Commander General of the Army, Major General Jesus Suarez Chourio.

There are four fundamental elements at the head of the National Guard, General Richard Lopez Vargas, on which all eyes are gravitating, and that of the Bolivarian militia, General Carlos Augusto Leal.

Down below, a thick structure distributes power among the generals. They are the chiefs and commanders of the Strategic Integral Defense Areas (REDI), Integrated Defense Operations Zones (IDOs) and Integral Defense Areas (IDFs).

Venezuela has a small army of generals, as many as many European countries combined. They are so numerous that during his six years at the helm of the country, Maduro has felt supported even though he has repeatedly forced the high command and officers to take an oath to the absolute fidelity.

This is a loyalty that is already in doubt, even though Chavismo still controls all the armed springs. That's what its president, Jair Bolsonaro, warned: "Our intelligence services have indicated that there is a significant level of discontent among the members of the armed forces in Venezuela, they are not as consistent as in the past".

Five key generals

In addition to military forces, the high command has control over Venezuela's economic sectors

Vladimir Padrino López (Minister of Defense)

• Chavismo, a strong man, was charged to read last Thursday the military proclamation of support to Maduro, and warns that he will never accept "a president imposed in the shadow of dark interests".

Néstor Reverol Torres (Minister of the Interior)

• He is commander of the National Guard, the first shock force of Chavez, who is on the streets and represses opponents. In addition, he is one of the most targeted by the allegations of drug trafficking.

Jesús Suárez Chourio (Commander-in-Chief of the Army)

• Heir to Chavez 's armed forces, Maduro needs his legitimacy in front of many early Chavists who today accuse the president of destroying the revolutionary legacy.

Remigio Ceballos Ichaso (Strategic Operational Commander)

• He recently declared that if Juan Guaidó became the president with real power, he would go into a guerrilla and fight in hiding.

Richard López Vargas (commander of the Bolivarian National Guard)

• GNB (Militarized Police) is a key organ of the military structure. his troops who rebelled against Maduro last week came from Cotiza and received civilian support.