In Venezuela, power is rarely announced: it is hinted at, rearranged, whispered. And the last move of In a matter of hours, the president in charge dismantled the old military scaffolding and rebuilt it piece by piece, as if she were writing the new season of a political series. These are complex times.
The most symbolic movement came first: the dismissal of Domingo Hernández Láreza heavy name, sanctioned by the United States, installed since 2021 at the head of the Strategic Operational Command of the Armed Forces.
Rafael Prieto Martínez now sits in his chair, major general, recently arrived at the top of the board, and who defines himself as “Venezuelan revolutionary, Chavista and patriot.”
A declaration of intent that seems written more for those who read between the lines than for Instagram.
An army that changes its skin in a single night
But the relief was not a “one by one” gesture. It was a sweep. Rodríguez moved at the same time the Army, the Aviation, the Navy, the Bolivarian National Guard and the Militia.
A complete redesign of the military organizational chart, just one day after announcing another package of appointments, including the most symbolic: the arrival of Gustavo González López to the Ministry of Defense, replacing the figure who had been there for a decade.
The message was clear before she even spoke it: This is a new team, not a patch. And when he said it, he said it like this: ““I appoint this high command to guarantee sovereignty, peace, stability and territorial integrity.”
A phrase that smells more like a warning than protocol.
A presidency that legitimizes its power while the country changes script
The staging followed a very precise thread: She spoke of “work tirelessly“, of “a sovereign, fair and supportive Venezuela” and of “absolute happiness for all.”
It is a tone that mixes political faith with institutional epic, as if each position were a piece of a larger mission that is articulated in silence.
Meanwhile, González López, his new Minister of Defense, enters Fuerte Tiuna with a career that goes through almost all of the most powerful institutions of the State apparatus: two terms at the head of Sebin, a recent stint in the Presidential Honor Guard and direction of military counterintelligence.
A resume that sounds like control, loyalty, and intimacy with power.
Shadows that do not disappear even if the names change
It is what makes this movement seem not just a dance of positions, but a profound readjustment of the system of power.
And it is difficult not to think that what is really being worked on, without rest, is the total reconfiguration of Venezuelan military power, in a country where no movement is innocent and no designation is just a designation.
