Delsey Rodríguez Replaces Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino | US-Venezuela tension news

General Vladimir Padrino spent 11 years as the country’s defense minister, serving as a key ally of Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela’s interim president, Delsy Rodriguez, has announced that she is replacing the country’s longtime defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, a central figure in former president Nicolas Maduro’s administration.

Rodriguez announced the high-profile departure in a Wednesday post on the social media platform Telegram.

“We thank Vladimir Padrino López for his loyalty to his homeland and for being the first soldier in defense of our country, all these years,” Rodriguez said.

Padrino will be given unspecified “new responsibilities,” he said. No explanation was given for the change.

Padrino’s departure is the latest cabinet-level shakeup in Venezuela’s government since Jan. 3, when the United States launched a military operation to kidnap Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores.

For example, February saw the departure of government ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz, followed by the resignation of Tarek William Saab as attorney general. Saab then took over Ruiz’s post on an interim basis.

All three officials are accused by human rights groups of having close ties to Maduro and contributing to government repression in Venezuela.

Padrino, 62, has led the country’s military since 2014. Under his leadership, the military has faced allegations of corruption and abuses, including a violent crackdown on protesters.

Critics have noted that the military’s influence extends to key sectors of the economy, such as mining, oil and food distribution.

Last week, a United Nations fact-finding mission noted that much of Maduro’s government remains in place, with little sign of accountability for human rights abuses.

“The complex legal and institutional machinery that incited and enabled the commission of serious human rights violations and international crimes – as the mission has documented in the past – remains intact,” the group wrote.

Since Maduro’s kidnapping, President Rodríguez’s interim government has faced pressure to implement reforms.

Already, her administration has released hundreds of political prisoners and passed a general amnesty law, although rights advocates point out that the legislation contains loopholes that allow for political repression.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has used the threat of further military action to pressure Venezuela to open up its nationalized oil and mining sector to foreign investment.

The US has also pushed for curbs on Venezuela’s oil sales, with Trump claiming it has already “extracted hundreds of millions of barrels of oil”.

The US Embassy in Caracas officially resumed operations last week after a seven-year hiatus under Maduro, who took office in 2013.

Before the January 3 attack, Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president. Although he has cooperated with the US, he has called on the Trump administration to release both Maduro and Flores.

In Wednesday’s announcement, Rodríguez indicated that Padrino would be replaced by Gen. Gustavo González López.

Both Padrino and González López have faced US sanctions based on allegations of human rights abuses and corruption. Previously, González López served as Venezuela’s domestic intelligence chief, and most recently he worked in management of state oil company PDVSA.