1 member of operation Aurora was captured by the Venezuelan military during the raid after being ambushed by soldiers, although the exact circumstances behind his capture are still unknown. The member captured was Darwin Balaguera, a former Venezuelan Army soldier who deserted Venezuela and fled to Cúcuta on February 23 during the humanitarian aid crisis at the border.

5 active duty soldiers from Luepa base were in on the raid and helped operation Aurora but something happened between them and Balaguera which led to Balaguera being captured and the 5 soldiers fled to Brazil where they have now claimed asylum.

So far that’s all the images and videos we have of Operation Aurora, but more information is available about the 2 men leading the Operation, Josue Hidalgo Azuaje and Jose Rodriguez Araña.



Both these men are highly trained soldiers who were arrested in 2017 after joining the La Espada De Dios movement which aimed to stage a rebellion to remove Maduro from power. Both men were detained and tortured at the infamous Ramo Verde máximum security military prison. Rodriguez Araña was transferred to a lower security prison where he escaped in October 2017.



On the 30 November 2017 while being moved from a hearing back to Ramo Verde Jose Rodríguez Araya helped his fellow La Espada de Dios soldiers escape with the help of a number of on duty National Guard soldiers who were escorting the prisoners. One of those that escaped that day was Josue Hidalgo Azuaje.



Both the men fled to Peru after their escape were they were quiet until January 17 2019. When they released this video surrounded by 20 or so former Venezuelan soldiers and policemen.