A/HRC/45/CRP.11 of the people of Venezuela, to take the streets, this is what you wanted and here we are with you”.1576 869. The sergeants were quickly confronted by a combined force of SEBIN, DGCIM, FAES, GNB and PNB units. The FAES unit was commanded by General Bastardo and the GNB by Commander Velarde. The units opened fire,1577 but the sergeants did not engage them with fire in return. Instead, they sought cover and tried to negotiate their surrender. 1578 No one was killed or injured. 870. Residents of Cotiza neighbourhood took to the streets in support of the military uprising, and security forces used tear gas against them.1579 After an hour, at around 5 a.m., GNB Commander, Major General Richard López Vargas and Major General Rodríguez Cabello, Commander of the REDI Capital, arrived to negotiate the sergeants’ surrender. 1580 871. A video uploaded on YouTube, verified and corroborated by the Mission, captured negotiations between Major General López Vargas and the sergeants. The insurgent group claimed to number around 120. They argued that, “the troops are suffering the same situation as the people of Venezuela”, denounced inadequate health, housing and living standards, and complained about higher-ranking officers’ corruption.1581 Their families later echoed these complaints in a conference organized by the NGO Foro Penal. 1582 872. In a live radio interview at around 6.15 a.m., Sergeant Bandres explained that FAES and GNB forces surrounded them, and that both military and civilian prosecutors were present to negotiate their surrender and to avoid bloodshed.1583 The interview was interrupted when the sergeants were detained. In a written statement that his lawyers shared with the Mission, Sergeant Bandres said they surrendered their weapons and were taken to the military police headquarters in Fort Tiuna.1584 873. Around one and a half hour later, at 7.45 a.m., Diosdado Cabello issued a series of tweets announcing the sergeants’ surrender and capture. He claimed that the sergeants had already begun to confess and that they claimed to have been deceived by offers of “castles and villas” and then had been abandoned.1585 Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino López issued an official communication providing details of the incident and explaining that the 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 YouTube Video, Vivo Play, Militares de comando GNB se pronuncia en Cotiza, 21 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ESkNRYQdY Document C3DD06, on file with the Mission. Ibid. YouTube Video, Agencia EFE, Manifestantes de Cotiza respaldan a militares sublevados en Caracas Agencia AFE, 21 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMeR909EpdI; See also YouTube Video, NTN24, Venezuela: Población de Cotiza se unió a manifestación de militares sublevados contra Maduro, 21 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_89K2SLqJw Written declaration of Luis Bandres on 17 February 2019 made from RamoVerde prison shared by Foro Penal, on file with the Mission. YouTube Video, Anonimus CR. Diálogo de Negociación para la Entrega de los Militares en Cotiza, 24 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mikcx5ovtjm; YouTube Video, VivoPlay, Militares rebelados en Cotiza son torturado, 21 February 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaMjW4drfNw YouTube Video, VivoPlay, Militares rebelados en Cotiza son torturado, 21 February 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaMjW4drfNw YouTube Video, VenePress TV, Militar que se sublevó contra Maduro narró en vivo su detención, 21 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnrbqa5SMSo Written declaration of Luis Bandres on 17 February 2019 made from Ramo Verde prison shared by Foro Penal on file with the Mission and Mission Interview with Sandra Hernandez on 24 June 2020. https://twitter.com/dcabellor/status/1087329858869489664?s=20, https://twitter.com/dcabellor/status/1087330513407365120?s=20, https://twitter.com/dcabellor/status/1087332326462447617?s=20 177