A former Venezuelan military officer held at Krome detention center testifies for the first time, explaining why he rebelled against Venezuela's president.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY

Former Venezuelan National Guard Lt. José Antonio Colina told an immigration court this week he broke with President Hugo Chávez because Chávez brought Cuban military advisors to train Venezuelan troops, allowed Colombian guerrillas to operate in Venezuela and fostered corruption in the military.

Colina, 30, is one of two National Guard lieutenants who fled to the United States in December after being charged in Venezuela with bombing the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate in Caracas Feb. 25, 2003.

It was the first time either lieutenant has spoken publicly since they showed up at Miami International Airport seeking asylum. Lt. Germán Rodolfo Varela, 31, is expected to testify when Colina finishes his own account. Colina is expected to resume his testimony next week at immigration court in Krome, a detention center in West Miami-Dade where the lieutenants are being held by immigration.

''I felt there was a loss of values in the armed forces after Chávez rose to power,'' Colina said. ``There was widespread corruption . . . a loss of national sovereignty by allowing foreign armed groups to operate on national territory . . . instilling of the Cuban model by people sent by the Cuban regime.''

Chávez, a friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, has acknowledged bringing to Venezuela thousands of Cuban doctors and sports trainers to serve in poor areas and villages but has not publicly disclosed the presence of the Cuban military.

Venezuelan authorities have requested the extradition of the two asylum seekers, alleging they bombed the diplomatic missions. The issue did not come up in Colina's first day of testimony Wednesday. While neither Colina nor Varela had responded to the allegations, their lawyers and relatives say the claims are false.

Bernardo Alvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, declined to respond to Colina's statements citing his country's extradition request.

But Alvarez said that, in general, Cuban personnel in Venezuela is active only in health, sports and education and that stories of Colombian guerrillas in Venezuela are ''rumors.'' He also noted that Chávez has reduced military spending to curb corruption.

However, foreign diplomats have told The Herald that Cuban advisors have been spotted at several ministries as well as in civilian and military intelligence agencies.

Colina said the Venezuelan military helped the guerrillas by staying in their barracks and reducing the size of border units.

The international saga of Colina and Varela began in November when a Caracas judge, Yedanira Nieves, issued an arrest warrant Nov. 14 for them on charges of participating in the bombings.

Prosecutors in Caracas have said the case is largely based on statements by Silvio Mérida, who operated the sound system at Altamira during opposition rallies, and allegedly overheard people at the plaza plot with Varela and Colina to bomb the diplomatic missions.

Alonso Medina, a Venezuelan attorney who represented Varela and Colina before they fled, told the court Mérida was tortured before he implicated the former lieutenants in the plot. Venezuelan prosecutors have denied that.

American officials have not taken a position on extradition. But the immigration service's trial attorneys have told Immigration Judge Neale Foster that Colina and Varela do not deserve haven in the United States because there are serious reasons'' to believe they committed a serious nonpolitical crime'' prior to arriving here.

The judge later will decide whether the former officers can stay, a decision that can be appealed.