MIAMI (AP) — For seven nerve-wracking months, they slept through the day in cramped quarters on cold floors, spending their nights in prayer, keeping fit with dumbbells made from water jugs and peering through the diplomatic compound's curtains for fear of surveillance.
But on Monday, 16 national guardsmen who shocked Venezuela and the world by revolting on April 30 against President Nicolás Maduro were safely out of the country, having fled the Panamanian embassy in Caracas that had been their makeshift home.
The Associated Press spoke to the group's leaders, who provided the first detailed account of what led them to plot with Maduro's opponents in an uprising that laid bare fraying support for the socialist leader in the armed forces.
Due to security concerns, lieutenant colonels Illich Sánchez and Rafael Soto would not reveal their location, or say when or how they left Venezuela. They said they journeyed in small groups as part of a clandestine military operation that counted with the support of dozens of low-ranking troops and their commanders.
"We want to clarify to all of the Venezuelan people that the decision taken April 30 was in fulfillment of the constitution, the republic's laws and our democratic institutions," Sánchez said in a handwritten missive sent to the AP confirming that he and the other 15 troops had safely left the country.
The story of how Sánchez and Soto managed to dupe their superiors and plot a revolt against Maduro underscores how discontent — and fear — has been running high inside Venezuela's barracks even as the embattled leader clings to power amid punishing U.S. sanctions imposed after a presidential election last year many say was fraudulent.
In their telling, the two longtime friends grew disillusioned watching the devastating collapse of Venezuela's economy and started secretly plotting to remove Maduro. Eventually they teamed up with Maduro's opponents led by National Assembly President Juan Guaidó, who is recognized as Venezuela's leader by the United States and some 60 countries.
On April 30, they stunned Venezuelans by appearing before dawn with tanks and heavily armed troops on a bridge in eastern Caracas alongside Guaidó and activist Leopoldo López, whom they helped spring from what they considered an illegal house arrest.
"When I gathered my troops at 2 a.m. and told them we were going to liberate Venezuela they broke down in tears," said Sánchez, who in a photo taken Monday was wearing the same Under Armour hoodie he used to sneak into the Panamanian embassy. "Nobody saw it coming, but they were all immediately committed."
Soto added: "Everything was perfectly lined up for a peaceful transition."
In hindsight, the two standout officers seemed fated for the high-risk mission, having both risen through the ranks to a trusted position with direct control of troops and regular contact with Maduro's top aides and Cabinet members.
Sánchez, 41, commanded a garrison of some 500 guardsmen responsible for protecting downtown government buildings, including the presidential palace, supreme court and the opposition-controlled congress.
That position gave him cover to win the trust of opposition lawmakers, even if on tumultuous days he had to do things such as forcibly remove activists who chained themselves to the legislature.
"The only military officer authorized in Venezuela to talk to the opposition was me," said Sánchez. "But in a polarized country, where things are either black or white, I couldn't risk taking a political position openly."