Over two dozen Venezuelan soldiers stormed the Brazilian embassy in Caracas asking for asylum on Tuesday amid an uprising of some in the military ranks against Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime.
NTN24 spoke with a Brazilian presidential source who confirmed that 25 soldiers asked for asylum in Brazil, where they would no longer be under control of the Maduro regime and its Cuban military apparatus. “There were several military requests [for asylum], yes, but we can not say how many or what rank,” the presidential source said.
The requests for asylum came as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro threw his support behind Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó, warning that the country was “enslaved by a dictator” in the form of Nicolás Maduro.
“Brazil is on the side of the people of Venezuela, President Juan Guaido and the freedom of Venezuelans,” Bolsonaro said on Twitter. “We support the freedom of this sister nation to finally live a true democracy.”