According to the civil association Control Ciudadano (Citizen Watch), the recent appointments of ministers made by Nicolás Maduro Moros in the executive cabinet mean a loss of influence of the military in Venezuela
It became known in early September that Admiral Gilberto Amilcar Pinto Blanco was to be separated from his position at the head of the Ministry of Popular Power for Mining and Ecological Development to run as a candidate to the National Assembly in the upcoming parliamentary elections planned by the National Electoral Council (CNE) for next December 6, an electoral process questioned by a part of the Venezuelan opposition.
It was expected that Pinto Blanco would be replaced by a military colleague, given the importance of this ministry in the financial structure of the State, and also because of the office’s work in an area of the national territory where military logistics is essential, the Orinoco Mining Arc.
The Orinoco Mining Arc is located in Bolívar state, in the south of the country. It is the operation center of one of the main military companies, Compañía Anónima Militar de Industrias Mineras, Petrolífera y de Gas (CAMIMPEG), whose creation was questioned by Control Ciudadano in 2016.
With the egress of Admiral Gilberto Amilcar Pinto Blanco from the ministerial cabinet, military participation drops to 23.52 percent. Eight military ministers remain in functions, out of thirty-four ministries, of which seven are active officers of the National Armed Forces and one belongs to the active reserve under the Organic Law of the National Armed Forces, due to having retired.
Translated by: José Rafael Medina
