A Venezuelan national guardsman who defected to Colombia is escorted by a Colombian policeman near the Simon Bolivar bridge between Venezuela and Colombia, in Cucuta, Colombia, February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Marco Bello
Business Insider: 567 Venezuelan soldiers defected to Colombia, and it could be a sign that Maduro's once rock-solid power base is starting to crumble
* 567 Venezuelan soldiers defected to Colombia, according to Colombian officials, amid a spiraling political crisis in Venezuela.
* The military is a vital power base for Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, which his rival Juan Guaidó is trying to chip away at.
* Amanda Lapo, a defense analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Business Insider that the defections show that military loyalty "is not unanimous any more."
More than 500 Venezuelan soldiers have fled President Nicolás Maduro's crumbling regime for neighboring Colombia, the Colombian migration authority reported Thursday.
The wave of desertions comes as opposition leader Juan Guaidó continues to seek support from the armed forces, which are one of the foundations of Maduro's authority.
Colombia has counted 567 defectors since violent clashes between security forces and activists trying to bring US aid to Venezuela, according to CNN and Colombia's El Tiempo.
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WNU Editor: Here's why Venezuela's soldiers are deserting in their own words .... The 'king-maker' keeping Nicolas Maduro in power is starting to crack — here's why Venezuela's soldiers are breaking ranks, in their own words (Business Insider).
