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COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA-POLITICS
Colombia maintains support for Venezuelan deserters
BOGOTA, March 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Colombia will continue to provide
support to nearly 1,000 deserters from the Venezuelan military in its
territory, the foreign ministry said Sunday — after several reported they
were about to be evicted.
The support — food and shelter — will remain in place until the
identification of “measures allowing for medium-term solutions,” the ministry
said in a statement.
The announcement came a day after deserters in the border towns of Cucuta
and Villa del Rosario told local media they feared eviction from shelters.
“They told us that we had three or four days to go and find somewhere to
go, that they were going to give us a mattress, a bed sheet and 350,000 pesos
($110),” a man who identified himself as sergeant Luis Gonzalez said.
The ambassador to Colombia appointed by opposition leader and self-
declared interim president Juan Guaido has announced he is in talks to allow
Venezuelan military deserters in Colombia the chance to pursue technical
careers there.
Recognized by 50 countries led by the US, Guaido offered amnesty to
members of the military who broke with the socialist government of President
Nicolas Maduro, who is counting on military backing to maintain his power.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0912 hrs