Injured, helpless and worried: Journey into the privacy of Venezuelan soldiers who have deserted – 26/02/2019

A simple house in a bumpy street in the city of Cucuta (located on the approximate border between Venezuela and Colombia), has become a refuge for those who have just become homeless: 40 Venezuelan soldiers who left their posts, and they fled to save their lives.

The young soldiers of the National Guard sleep on thin mats on the ground. Various bulletproof vests They rest along a wall in one of the rooms. On a balcony, wet boots crossing the muddy waters of the Táchira River dry in the sun.

"I was already tired of the city see me as one of themsaid Sergeant Jorge Torres, referring to the Socialist Government of the President Nicolás Maduro. "And it's not like that."

A bold plan of the Venezuelan opposition to deliver humanitarian aid to the country failed on Saturday, February 23, but another phenomenon occurred: after troops loyal to Maduro refused to trucks entering with food and medicine, a wave of fire broke out. military defections never seen during the crisis ravaging the country. According to statements by Colombian immigration agents, More than 270 people in uniform, mostly of lower rank, fled within three days.

With no family in Colombia, dozens of them went to a shelter run by a priest. Housing is the place where the whereabouts of the remaining parents are nervously traced. Find out how to apply for asylumand plan your next steps.

"Unfortunately, the only way the government shows up, and the people of Venezuela know it, is there any direct intervention"Sergeant Jose Gomez, father of two children," The only ones who have this power are the international countries. "

Last minute flight

In interviews with The badociated press, nine soldiers of the National Guard described the day their commanders ordered them to stop the entrance of humanitarian aid in Venezuela.

For fear of being imprisoned, many executed the orders and they admitted to having thrown tear gas to the protesters. Two of them said that they were part of an unsuccessful plot to introduce supplies. All decided to flee at the last moment, without planning anything or anything other than the uniforms that they wore.

"Son, if it's for your life and for that to change, do it," remembers Gomez, whom his father had said during a brief telephone call before entering Colombia .

The desertions occur while the Venezuelan opposition lobbied the army for it to recognize the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the legitimate president of the nation.

Traditionally Venezuelan army served as arbitrator in political disputes. He was responsible for forcing the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez to leave his post in 1958. But the military hierarchy remains firm on the side of Maduro, who has shown no sign of renunciation of power.

Although Guaidó proposed an amnesty for the military charges that support him, the lower-ranking soldiers who fled They pointed out that leaving Maduro is almost impossible.

They said that anyone who showed any sign of disapproval could be arrested and that the prison was more and more condemned. synonymous with torture.

Even those who, like Gomez, wanted help to come in, followed the order to suppress citizenship. As the situation tightened on Saturday, protesters threw stones and incendiary bombs. Gómez explained that threw tear gas to protect.

Others, in the house, also wear marks on the body, from the resistance they faced that day: Torres still has blood under the skin, after protesters have it kicked after returning to the Colombian authorities. A young woman had a scratch on her cheek, which according to her was caused by the launch of a stone.

During the clashes, the armed groups that support Maduro, said "collective"they fired indiscriminately. Several soldiers said they feared being shot.

National Guard troops have mbad control equipment, such as rubber bullets and tear gas, but they do not have the prescribed weapons.

Like the rest of the population facing brutal hyperinflation (this year it will reach 10 million percent), soldiers also knew the indignities of life in Venezuela, where the acute shortage of food and medicine took more than three million people to leave during the last years.

"You know that There is nothing here, not a kilo of rice"said the soldier who asked not to be identified by fear for the safety of the children that she left at home." And I fight, why? ".

Two months ago, Gómez saw his newborn son die in just 15 minutes, because the hospital in which his partner had given birth did not have oxygen for the lungs. Torres said that one of his aunts had died of cancer and that an uncle had succumbed to a curable gastric infection.

"These are the reasons that brought me to this situation," Torres said.

Behind the scenes of a tragic day

When Guaidó first announced the aid, Torres said that three other soldiers from his barracks and he had met and had silently discussed their options. As drivers of the National Guard, they had access to armored trucks.

They drew up a plan to drive the vehicles on the Simón Bolívar international bridge.. The idea was to demolish the barricades installed on the road and allow the entrance of the trucks of the opposition with supplies.

On Saturday morning, Torres climbed one of the white painted trucks and drove him across the bridge. Although several obstacles were removed, a woman trying to enter Colombia was also affected. She was seriously injured and was forced to stop.

He came out with his rifle in his hand, raised his arms in surrender and helped the woman to go to the ambulance.

As one of the first defectors, he was quickly taken to Guaidó, who had snuck across the border into Colombia to oversee the delivery.

Torres said he had accepted his loyalty to the 35-year-old legislator, recognized as Venezuela's interim president by more than fifty countries, including the United States and many Latin American countries.

"We have time to change the story," he said.

For Gómez, the turning point came when he saw another national guard in uniform being hit in the face by an incendiary bomb. Although he had severe injuries, the commanders did not call an ambulance to take him to the hospital, he added. Fearing that this could not happen to him when he was hit by protesters, he decided to run away.

"They would not do anything (for me)," Gomez said.

At the launch of one of hundreds of illegal dirt roads that cross the porous border between Venezuela and Colombia, armed men belonging to "collectives" were fired in their direction, remembers Gómez. He crossed the river and crossed the undergrowth for 20 minutes. When he arrived on Colombian soil and saw the army, he raised his hands in peace.

"I come to deliver me!" Shouted it.

Uncertainty for those who stayed

Many have feared that their wives and children will face the consequences and fear they will not make ends meet. Many people in uniform who have fled in the past year they had problems finding a joband end up making a living sell food on the street.

When asked who he left behind, Torres replied "my wife" before bursting into tears. Too excited to talk about her daughter, He could barely tell the age of the little girl with his fingers: six years old.

Almost all deserters would support foreign intervention in Venezuelaand they would join the fight.

Guaidó on Saturday called on the international community to consider "all solutions" to resolve the Venezuelan crisis, after the troubles caused by aid badistance, killing four people and injuring 300 others.

During a visit to Bogota, capital of Colombia, on Monday for a meeting with regional leaders, US Vice President Mike Pence recalled President Donald Trump's warning that "all options are on the table"but avoided speaking of any military action.

During an exchange of ideas, many of the defectors said they believed that the The best way to move forward is that more soldiers leave their posts. and help to form a resistance from abroad.

Some attended an intervention led only by Venezuelans, while others are convinced that this can only be done with the help of an international coalition.

All agreed that they did not see themselves as traitors, but rather as soldiers trying to restore democracy in Venezuela.

"We will change the story," Torres said. "We are history".

By Christine Wardrobe – The badociated press

Luis Andrés Henao, an Associated Press reporter in Ureña, Venezuela, contributed to this article.

GML