Caracas.- General-in-chief of the Venezuelan Army Gustavo González López, sanctioned for human rights violations by the U.S. and the European Union (EU), became the new head of Defense of the country, replacing Vladimir Padrino López, the longest-serving minister of Nicolás Maduro who could not prevent Washington from capturing the Chavista leader.
González López, 65 years old, enters the office located within Venezuela’s largest military complex, Fuerte Tiuna, in Caracas, just over two months after being appointed by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, as commander of the Presidential Honor Guard and head of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM).
In the past, the military man was twice at the head of the feared Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) as general director, first between 2014 and 2018 and then from 2019 to 2024, both by appointment of Maduro, now detained in New York along with his wife, congresswoman Cilia Flores, also captured last January amid US attacks on Venezuelan territory.
Both the DGCIM and Sebin have been identified by non-governmental organizations and the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela as responsible for human rights violations.
In 2020, the United Nations mission said it had found “reasonable grounds to believe” that González López “knew of, participated in, and contributed to the commission of serious violations and crimes against political opponents targeted by the Government that took place in the Sebin from 2014 onwards, including arbitrary detentions and torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including acts of sexual violence”.
The mission has requested to investigate the military and assured having received information from witnesses about “relationships of trust” between González López and the current Minister of Interior, Diosdado Cabello, from whom he received “direct orders”.
Nor is it the first time that González López has held a ministerial position, as he was Minister of the Interior between 2015 and 2016.
U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and the EU
The new head of Defense was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2015, during the government of then-President Barack Obama, who accused him of having participated directly or indirectly in repressive acts that constitute a “serious abuse” or violation of human rights.
The White House then indicated that, under its direction, the Sebin played an important role in the repressive actions against the civilian population during the protests in Venezuela, including extrajudicial detentions, and to date remains on the OFAC sanctions list.
González López, who was also an advisor on Security and Intelligence to Maduro, was sanctioned by Canada in 2017 along with 39 other names such as Maduro, Padrino López and Cabello, whom the Government of the North American country then pointed out as responsible for “the deterioration of democracy in Venezuela”.
A year later, in 2018, he was subject to sanctions by the EU and Switzerland also for human rights violations.
