Despite the ouster of Nicolas Maduro from the presidency, real change has yet to happen in Venezuela and the armed forces remain loyal to the regime: that was the blunt assessment of an exiled former security officer on Monday.
Williams Cancino watched the U.S. capture of his former boss and president from the Colombian-Venezuela border last weekend.
He hopes it could be the beginning of freedom for Venezuela after a quarter-century of repression, economic depression and one-party rule.
But if things were to change, first the country’s powerful security services “need a new high command”, he told AFP on Monday.
“The top brass is completely loyal to the regime,” said Cancino, who until his defection in 2019 was an officer in Venezuela’s police and special operations forces, which are often used to suppress dissent.
They helped Maduro’s government survive through flawed elections and mass protests.
When AFP contacted several former Venezuelan soldiers and police officers labeled traitors by the government, they agreed that despite dramatic changes at the top, many of the same people still control Venezuela.
Much of the power appears to remain in the hands of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino – both of whom are wanted by U.S. authorities.
The military, and even Maduro’s own son, have pledged allegiance to Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president and close confidant and new interim leader.
“Currently, the leadership of the armed forces is nothing more than an appendage of the dictatorship,” said a former colonel who spoke on condition of anonymity.
With Maduro out of the country, he believes the “high command” should “step down.”
Former detective Cleberth Delgado is also skeptical of Venezuela’s transition, while commanders loyal to Rodriguez remain in place.
In ongoing contact with former comrades, many former military officers say they are preparing to return to Venezuela with the goal of taking over from the current military leadership.
“We are waiting for the best time to support the new government,” Delgado said. But so far, there are few signs that this will happen.
Even U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose political career has been devoted to pro-democracy movements in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America, has said elections are not Venezuela’s top priority.
US President Donald Trump has outright dismissed the idea that Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could lead the country.
While some former officers still talk about enacting change through force, Cancino hopes his former comrades will do the right thing.
“We don’t want conflict, let alone civil war. We don’t want to confront our brothers.”
das/lv/arb/rlp/iv
