Venezuela’s military, despite U.S. expectations, has not turned on Maduro
2019-04-14 10:28:19 source：The Washington Post
April 13, 2019
When the Trump administration first demanded in January that Venezuela’s government step aside and allow the political opposition to take over, hopes were high that the Venezuelan military would quickly change sides and make it happen.
Underpaid, underfed and humiliated by the autocratic turn their once-rich and democratic country had taken, the armed forces were the linchpin of the U.S. administration’s strategy. Some U.S. officials predicted that Venezuela’s military would flip en masse within days.
Nearly three months later, Venezuela’s top-heavy military remains largely intact under President Nicolás Maduro. The once-brisk pace of defections to neighboring Colombia has slowed to a trickle. Fewer than 1,500 Venezuelan soldiers, relieved by the Colombian government of their weapons and uniforms and housed in sparsely furnished hotel rooms near the border, now sit waiting for something to happen.
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