Hundreds of Venezuelan soldiers desert and escape to Brazil and Colombia – 25/02/2019

Over the weekend, at the Venezuelan-Venezuelan border between Venezuela and Venezuela, at least 167 members of the Venezuelan armed forces fled to Colombia and seven other soldiers fled to Brazil. The borders of Venezuela with the two countries are closed for several days, by decision of the Nicolás Maduro regime.

Among the people who left Venezuela, there are officers from the armed forces and the National Guard who have applied for asylum and protection. Last weekend, Venezuelan troops prevented the pbadage of trucks with humanitarian aid. These vehicles came from two border towns, Colombian Cúcuta and Brazilian Pacaraima. The Colombian Immigration Office reported that 157 Venezuelan soldiers arrived in Colombia from the province of Norte de Santander, the others having entered the province of Arauca. According to the EFE agency, official sources have denied the arrival of four Venezuelan generals in Colombia, a version that has circulated a lot on social networks.

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While spending their first hours in a Catholic church in Cúcuta, Colombia, Venezuelan soldiers spoke to reporters. Sergeant Rafael José Zavarce told the EFE news agency that the situation in Venezuela was "deplorable" and that he had decided to flee for the future of his family. "I call all the soldiers who are in Venezuela, do not be afraid, it's time to take up arms with the people who still want the country, we need a free and sovereign homeland "said Sergeant Zavarce. In his opinion, it is now necessary to recognize Juan Guaidó as president "for the freedom of Venezuela".

As long as they did not reveal their identities for fear of reprisals against their relatives in Venezuela, other military refugees in Cucuta spoke with BBC journalists in London. One of them explained that "there are a lot of soldiers who want to escape and this will have a domino effect on the troops". He added that "the armed forces are broken because there are too many corrupt officers, but that the military professionals are tired of the situation, we can not continue to be slaves, we must to liberate ourselves ".

In the border town of Pacaraima, in the Brazilian state of Roraima (border with Venezuela), Sergeant Juan Carlos César Parra, of the Venezuelan National Guard, defected on Saturday evening with two other soldiers in uniform. Parra said he arrived in Pacaraima with his uniform but without weapons. "We were hungry, we were exhausted and we wanted to surrender," said Parra, accompanied by two other Venezuelan sergeants, Jorge Luis González and Carlos Eduardo Zapata. The EFE agency confirmed that there were four other deserters from the Venezuelan National Guard.

Sergeant Zapata said, "We want people to leave without fear, we are coming to Brazil, because it is now or never". Officials said leaving Venezuela was not an easy decision. Although civilians are not at risk of punishment, the military and their families can be severely punished if they are captured by Nicolás Maduro's regime.

Source: EFE Agencies, AP