Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez dismisses minister of defense

Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez dismissed Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who headed the Venezuelan armed forces for more than a decade.

"We thank General in Chief Vladimir Padrino López for his dedication, his loyalty to the Homeland and for having been, during all these years, the first soldier in the defense of our country," Rodríguez wrote in a statement accessed by AFP.

"We are sure that he will assume the new responsibilities that will be entrusted to him with the same commitment and honor," she added.

The Venezuelan leader also appointed Gustavo González López, who was appointed a few days after Maduro's fall as head of the presidential guard and of the feared counterintelligence directorate, as head of the Ministry of Defense.