Maduro changes command of the Venezuelan Armed Forces

The latter’s brother, Johan Alexander Hernández Larez, was appointed commander-general of the Army, while Admiral Ashraf Andel Hadi Suleimán Gutiérrez will lead the Navy from today.

Major General Lenín Lorenzo Ramírez Villasmil was chosen to head the Air Force. To command the DGCIM and the Presidential Honor Guard, Maduro appointed Major General Javier Marcano Tábata.

SEBIN, in turn, will be led by Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello, very close to the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello.

Maduro’s appointments follow a wave of arrests in recent weeks at the top of the Armed Forces. In prison, among others, is General Vidal José Francisco Coraspe, director of territorial resources for the Eastern Integral Strategic Defense Region (Redi); Brigadier General Saúl Rafael Somoza Gámez, commander of the 25th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the border state of Táchira; Ramón Antonio Cruells Martínez, commander of the Bolivarian National Guard nº. 52 from the State of Anzoátegui; and Jesús José García Rivero, coordinator of the Police Coordination Center (CCPE) of Anzoátegui.