Former soldiers and police officers who defected from the Venezuelan security services, after they were accused of treason for abandoning their military uniform and taking refuge in Colombia about seven years ago, are seeking to return to their country and replace the current senior leadership of the army, which non-governmental organizations accuse of committing human rights violations and other crimes, after the fall of Maduro.

Published on: 01/06/2026 - 12:55

Dissenters from the Venezuelan security services, from Colombia, where they took refuge, followed in disbelief and anticipation the fall of Nicolas Maduro, and some of them even began to think about returning to the country and forming a “new leadership,” as they said in interviews conducted with them by the Agence France-Presse.

Former soldiers and policemen who were accused of treason after abandoning their military uniform took refuge in Colombia about seven years ago, but Washington's arrest of Maduro reshaped the scene, they said.

One of the commanders confirms that when he was about to be appointed as a general in the army, he resigned for moral reasons, following a dispute with his superiors. He explains that without Maduro, “the senior military leadership, made up of some of his former comrades, will have to step down.”

For now, though, these officers remain “completely loyal to the regime,” says Williams Cansino, a former member of the police’s Special Operations Command.

These defectors, who are in constant contact with their former comrades and parties involved in this mass desertion, confirm that they are planning to return with the aim of replacing the current senior leadership of the army, which NGOs accuse of committing human rights violations and other crimes.

“We need new senior leadership”

“We need a new top leadership,” Cansino asserts. “We are waiting for the right moment to support the new government” that will be elected, “and rebuild state institutions and restore order.” Cansino arrived in 2019 with a group of men wearing military uniforms to the border, and crossed into Colombia on foot before handing over their weapons to the authorities.

He confirms that his plan at the time was to establish a leadership capable of overthrowing Maduro after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in light of pressure exerted by Washington on the existing authority. This time, he asserts, his hope "is limitless... The era of freedom has truly begun in Venezuela."

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump confirmed that his country is assuming leadership of Venezuela, but he did not announce the deployment of forces or support for any special forces outside the scope of the Venezuelan armed forces.

After the arrest of Maduro, who pleaded not guilty Monday in a New York court, the Venezuelan army extended its support to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who was sworn in as interim president on Monday.

But Trump warned Rodriguez: "If you don't do what it takes, you will pay a heavy price, perhaps more expensive than Maduro paid."

The dissidents confirm that the army and police institutions remain loyal to Maduro, despite the American military operation carried out on Saturday. These two institutions are still under the leadership of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, both of whom are wanted by the American judiciary.

“We do not want conflict, nor civil war.”

Former investigator Cleberth Delgado doubts the possibility of a transfer of power in Venezuela as long as senior officers loyal to Delcy Rodriguez remain in their positions. Independent estimates indicate that the country has about two thousand generals.

Delgado explains that he worked with Oscar Perez, a policeman who became famous in 2017 after his rebellion against Maduro, but he was assassinated in 2018. With the Venezuelan president currently detained on American soil, and the possibility of the collapse of the power structure, Delgado confirms that the dissidents want to “propose a new institution” for the security services to Rodriguez’s government.

He says from one of the secret houses where he is hiding in a popular neighborhood minutes from the border that if their request is rejected, “weapons are always an option.” But Cansino explains: “We do not want conflict, civil war, or fratricidal fighting.”

As for Juan Guaido, who lives in the United States, he sees a way forward in cooperation with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.

France 24/AFP

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