Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader who has been recognized as interim president by dozens of countries, said Friday that 600 military personnel had defected in the week since Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered them to block the entry of aid sent by the US as part of an effort to oust him.
Since 2014, some 4,300 members of the country's national guard — all non-commissioned officers or enlisted personnel, representing about 6% of the force— have deserted, according to a document signed by the guard's commander in December.
The military has been described as Venezuela's "king-maker"— a force that has kept Maduro in power amid deadly protests and international opprobrium.
Read more: Venezuela's 'king-maker' is fraying, and nobody knows what comes next
But that support is not total.
Many senior military leaders have personal and financial interests at stake — protecting special privileges, like higher pay, and avoiding prosecution for involvement in illegal activity, like drug smuggling. Junior officers and rank-and-file troops, however, have no such interests.
"Many, many low-level former police and military figures are among the over 3 million Venezuelans who have fled the country" over the past several years, Geoff Ramsey, assistant director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America, told Business Insider. "What is new about this latest wave is the rate of defections."
In recent days, some of the troops who have turned on Maduro have explained why.
Venezuela's military has been sent to repress numerous protests in recent years — mainly the national guard, which handles domestic operations. The February 23 effort by the opposition to move aid over the border was no exception, but for some guardsmen, it was also an opportunity.
"I was tired of people seeing me as just one more of them. I'm not," national guardsman Sgt. Jorge Torres told the Associated Press, referring to Maduro's government.
Source: the Associated Press
Torres was one of nine defected guardsmen who spoke to the AP, saying they were ordered to prevent aid from crossing the border. Fearing reprisals by their commanders — including jail or torture — some complied, launching tear gas at protestors.
Source: the Associated Press
See the rest of the story at Business Insider