Delcy Rodriguez replaces Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino

General Vladimir Padrino spent 11 years as the country’s defence minister, acting as a key ally of Nicolas Maduro.Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has announced that she is replacing the country’s longtime defence minister, General Vladimir Padrino, a central figure from the administration of former President Nicolas Maduro.Rodriguez announced the high-level departure in a post on Wednesday on the social media platform Telegram.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UN fact-finding mission warns of continued human rights abuses in Venezuelalist 2 of 3US embassy in Venezuela reopens as Trump pushes for access to resourceslist 3 of 3World Baseball Classic: Underdogs Venezuela stun USA to win maiden titleend of list“We thank Vladimir Padrino Lopez for his loyalty to the homeland and for having been, for all of these years, the first soldier in the defence of our country,” Rodriguez said.She added that Padrino would be given unspecified “new responsibilities”. No explanation was given for the change.Padrino’s departure is the latest cabinet-level shake-up in the Venezuelan government since January 3, when the United States launched a military operation to abduct Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.February, for instance, saw the departure of government ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz, followed by the resignation of Tarek William Saab as attorney general. Saab has since taken up Ruiz’s post on an interim basis.All three officials were closely associated with Maduro and have been accused by human rights groups of contributing to government repression in Venezuela.The 62-year-old Padrino has led the country’s military since 2014. Under his leadership, the military has faced accusations of corruption and abuses, including carrying out violent crackdowns on protesters.Critics have also noted that the military’s influence extends into important sectors of the economy, such as mining, oil and food distribution.