translated from Spanish: Venezuela: Defence Minister Ratified

CARACAS (AP) — General vladimir Padrino López, whose allegiance to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is seen as fundamental to maintaining the power and support of the military high command, was ratified on Sunday as Defense Minister. ratified in office to “continue his brilliance, with his talent, with his intelligence, with his military leadership, with his loyalty to the Ministry of People’s Power for Defense,” Maduro said during the act of swearing-in lieutenants and ensign as a ship’s ensign as new members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB). HELP US Click the Google News star and follow usGodgetper Lopez, 56, is one of the ministers who has been part of Maduro’s team for more than six years and is also one of the most permanent in the Ministry of Defense in the history of the country. The position was assumed on October 24, 2014.The opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January and is recognized by more than 50 countries, has tried to add the military’s support to force Maduro to leave power and establish a transitional government on. The armed forces have traditionally been the arbiters of political disputes in Venezuela.With Godfather Lopez at the helm, senior military leaders have publicly shown no fissures in their support and loyalty to Maduro.With some 200,000 career military and about two million militiamen under his command, Venezuela’s military leadership has much to lose if Maduro is overthrown, that includes his control over important sectors of the country’s economy. In September last year, the U.S. government imposed sanctions against Godfather Lopez, citing his contribution to “ensuring military loyalty to the Maduro regime.” The Castrense chief is one of the last active servicemembers to study in the United States and was trained for psychological operations at the School of the Americas and then at the Army Infantry School, both located at Fort Benning, Georgia.The representative U.S. Donald Trump has said it would “be easy to overthrow” Maduro with a coup if The Venezuelan military so decides. Maduro also endorsed in his positions the head of the Operational Strategic Command, Admiral-in-Chief, Remigio Ceballos; and the commanders of the Navy and air force, Admiral Giuseppe Alessandrello Cimadevilla, and Major General Pedro Juliac, respectively. Among the new members of the High Command are the appointment as general commander of the Army of Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello to replace the major general, Jesús Suárez Chourio, who held the position since June 2017. Suárez Chourio participated in the failed 1992 military snoow headed by then-lieutenant colonel and now deceased President Hugo Chavez. While Major General Fabio Zavarse was appointed commander of the National Guard to replace Major General Richard López Vargas.Venezuela faces Washington sanctions amid a severe economic crisis signified by product shortages basics such as food and medicine, as well as seven-digit inflation. Its economy has more than halved since 2013, according to IMF figures. The crisis has also caused at least four million Venezuelans to leave the country, according to the United Nations.



Original source in Spanish

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