Toothpick and two generals helped Venezuela opposition leader survive jail

Edgar Zambrano, Vice President of Venezuela's National Assembly, walk at his office prior to an interview with Reuters in Caracas, Venezuela October 2, 2019. Picture taken October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

CARACAS (Reuters) - During four months in a small military jail cell, Venezuela's Congress vice president scratched the days on a wall with a toothpick, held a hunger-strike, and made unlikely friends with two generals who have fallen foul of the socialist government.

"It was a pretty tough experience," opposition leader Edgar Zambrano, 64, told Reuters of his time in Cell 12A at the Fuerte Tiuna base in Caracas, where he was held, accused of treason against President Nicolas Maduro's administration.