purges Vladimir Padrino and already targets Diosdado

It is the same González López who assumed leadership of the presidential guard and the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) just five days after the extraction of Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The same one who received the director of the CIA in Caracas, John Ratcliffeless than two weeks after the United States attacks on the capital.

“We thank G/J Vladimir Padrino López for his dedication, his loyalty to the Homeland and for having been, during all these years, the first soldier in the defense of our country,” the president in charge wrote on Telegram, who avoided detailing the reasons for the dismissal. “We are sure that he will assume with the same commitment and honor the new responsibilities that will be entrusted to him,” he concluded.

“I deeply thank the President in Charge, Delcy Rodríguez, for her words and all the support provided during my administration,” Godfather himself responded on social network

Padrino López had been at the head of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) for more than eleven years. He was one of the strong men of Chavismo even before Maduro appointed him Minister of Defense at the end of 2014, replacing the admiral Carmen Melendezcurrent mayor of Caracas.

His destiny changed, however, in the early morning of January 3. He showed nothing but resignation in the face of Maduro’s “kidnapping.” His subordinates hardly showed any signs of opposition during the operation. Absolute Resolution. Since then, the rumor about his future has flooded the barracks. His departure was an open secret.

His successor, in charge until this Wednesday of the personal protection of the president, is weighed by sanctions from the European Union and the United States for corruption and human rights violations since his time at the head of the feared Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin). A dark record of service that, however, the Trump Administration seems to tolerate.

Padrino’s purge is not the first symbolic departure from the Government or other State apparatuses since Delcy Rodríguez spends her days in Miraflores. In fact, this Wednesday the interim president made another six new appointments to the Cabinet and other positions of maximum responsibility.

The first renowned purge was Alex SaabMaduro’s front man, who held the portfolio of Industry and National Production after his release in December 2023. A month later, the attorney general presented his resignation, Tarek William Saabthe great judicial operator of Chavismo. But Padrino’s dismissal is the most far-reaching change in the architecture of the regime since the fall of Maduro.

“Delcy was trapped between the pressure of the orders of the Trump Administration and the actors of traditional Chavismo who still control the weapons,” the Turkish diplomat explains in conversation with this newspaper. Help Onerwho served in the Embassy of his country in Caracas. “To consolidate his power, he needs to eliminate or displace figures who can block his influence over institutions.”

“Padrino was key in that sense, since he was at the head of the Armed Forces for more than a decade and accumulated enormous power within the system,” adds Oner, who warns: “What Delcy is doing is redesigning the entire power structure to maintain controlled authoritarianism in Venezuela, not a democratic transition.”

“We are witnessing a recomposition,” agrees, for his part, the Venezuelan sociologist Rafael Uzcateguiwho remembers that the name of another general appeared in the pools to succeed Padrino, Miguel Rodriguez TorresMaduro’s former Minister of the Interior and Justice who fell into disgrace and who landed in Madrid less than three years ago as an exile after passing through the regime’s prisons.

After Padrino, he is the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Hairwho has the most votes to be the next purged. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Uzcátegui slips. “González López gets along well with him.” Oner disagrees: “I think he’s next, but it might take a little longer. Diosdado is a more difficult figure than Padrino.”