More changes in Chavista military leadership: Nicolás Maduro sacked Remigio Ceballos and appointed Domingo Hernández Lárez as head of FANB

Changes in the structure of the Venezuelan dictatorship continue. This Wednesday Nicolas maduro appointed the commanding general Domingo Antonio Hernández Lárez as the new Strategic Operational Commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (CEOFANB), instead of the chief admiral Remigio Ceballos Ichaso, who had held the position since 2017.

“Major-General Hernández Lárez, you have accomplished a brilliant, committed and profound job in the service of the army, the Bolivarian national armed forces and our homeland, that is why I appoint you and promote you general in chief of the army and announce your appointment as the new strategic operational commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces “, said the Venezuelan dictator, as officially reported in a statement.

In this way, Hernández Lárez will occupy the third highest military post, behind the President and the Minister of Defense.

The Strategic Operational Command of the FANB is “the supreme body for operational, specific, joint and combined strategic planning and control“Armed forces. Its field of action is the entire geographic and aerospace area of ​​Venezuela, “According to the agreements or treaties signed and ratified by the Republic, in order to guarantee the integral defense of the nation”, according to the website of the command. His job is to plan, program, direct, execute and control “The specific, joint and combined strategic operational process” of the FANB “in order to guarantee the security, the independence and the sovereignty of the nation “.

The announcement took place at the joint Corvette Lieutenants and Lieutenants graduation ceremony in the Command, Technician and Troop Categories, and passed to Active Reserve graduating promotions in 1988, of which Remigio Ceballos Ichaso was part.

The ceremony held at the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela (UMBV) was also attended by Cilia Flores, Vladimir Padrino López; Major General José Adelino Ornela; as well as the major general Félix Osorio Guzmán, rector of the UMBV, and the general officers and admirals, members of the superior staff of the FANB.

“We are here in this act so important for the foundations of our institution, so important for the development of our FANB», Indicated Maduro, who announced that this Wednesday 1,052 cadets.

Hernández Lárez belongs to the class of 1988. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Bolivarian Army; In July 2019, he was appointed Commander of the Strategic Global Defense Capital Region (REDI Capital).

In addition, he was commander of the Aragua Comprehensive Defense Zone (ZODI) in 2017 and in 2018 he received the command of the Central Comprehensive Defense Strategic Region (REDI), with jurisdiction in the states of Aragua, Carabobo and Yaracuy.

On February 29, 2016, after a military exercise, a cadet died and more than a hundred were injured to be “probably“Expired some grenades and / or tear gas used in military training. However, the authorities never conducted an independent investigation into what happened.

The military leadership of the dictatorship, headed by the minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López, is accused by dozens of countries and international organizations of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.

In a new report presented a few days ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle bachelet, denounced that the system of abuse and torture is still in force in Venezuela.

“The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) continued to receive credible reports of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. He received reports of beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence and threats of rape. OHCHR is not aware of any action taken by the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture between June 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021 ″part of the report said.

OHCHR documented new cases in which people were subjected to enforced disappearances, during which they were kept in secret and the authorities refused to share his whereabouts with his defenders or relatives. “These practices put detainees at increased risk of ill-treatment», Specifies the agency.

In addition, they also received reports of sexual violence against women in pre-trial detention, and denounced that most institutions are not adapted to meet gender norms and inmates are often guarded by men.

In February of this year Remigio Ceballos was sanctioned by the European Union (EU) for “serious human rights violations” and “undermining democracy”, after the December 6 elections that EU countries did not did not recognize them, believing they had not respected democratic standards. .

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