MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Delcy Rodríguez removes Vladimir Padrino as Venezuela’s defense minister

Padrino’s departure closes a chapter of more than a decade at the helm of the defense ministry

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday removed Vladimir Padrino López as defense minister and appointed General Gustavo González López in his place, ending one of the longest and most politically sensitive tenures within the country’s ruling military hierarchy. Venezuelan media reported the move citing Rodríguez’s official message on X, in which she thanked Padrino for his “loyalty to the homeland” and said he would take on “new responsibilities.”

Padrino’s departure closes a chapter of more than a decade at the helm of the defense ministry. Efecto Cocuyo and El Nacional both framed the reshuffle as the end of a cycle in which Padrino remained a central stabilizing figure for chavismo, first under Nicolás Maduro and later during the transition opened this year under Rodríguez’s interim authority.

The new minister, Gustavo González López, comes to the post from senior security and intelligence positions. Efecto Cocuyo reported that he had been serving as commander of the Presidential Honor Guard and director of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence, while other reports place him among the trusted figures in the current reorganization of Venezuela’s security apparatus.

Informo al país que hoy he designado al G/J Gustavo González López como Ministro del Poder Popular para la Defensa. pic.twitter.com/AmuD0HNrdJ

— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) March 18, 2026

His appointment, however, immediately revives scrutiny over human rights and international sanctions. The U.S. Treasury lists Gustavo Enrique González López among the “key military and intelligence officials” under sanctions and states that he has been sanctioned “since 2015”; the same document also lists Vladimir Padrino López as sanctioned since 2018 as part of measures against Venezuelan officials accused of repression and violations of civil and human rights.

The reshuffle also comes a month after an official visit to Caracas by U.S. Southern Command chief General Francis L. Donovan. In its Feb. 18 readout, SOUTHCOM said Donovan and other U.S. officials met Venezuelan interim authorities to discuss the security environment, implementation of President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan and the stabilization of Venezuela.

So far, no public explanation has been given for Padrino’s removal or for the exact functions he is expected to take on next. What is clear is that the change at the defense ministry is not a minor administrative adjustment: it shifts the internal balance inside the armed forces and places a figure long associated with chavismo’s intelligence and counterintelligence bodies at the top of the military chain of command.