Venezuela’s interim leader sacks man in charge of Maduro’s guard

General Javier Marcano Tábata, commander of Venezuela’s presidential honor guard, was fired days after Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured by US forces in a raid in Caracas and taken to New York to stand trial on narco-terrorism charges.

The Presidential Guard of Honor is the military force that provides the bodyguards tasked with protecting the head of state.

Although the Venezuelan government has not yet provided a detailed death toll, members of the guard are thought to be among the dozens of people killed in the US operation to capture Maduro.

The order to replace General Marcano Tábata was given by the new interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.

Rodríguez was sworn in Monday by the National Assembly, which is dominated by government loyalists.

He served as Maduro’s vice president and is considered a close ally of the jailed leader.

US President Donald Trump said at a press conference after Maduro’s capture that the US would “manage” Venezuela and that the US had spoken to Rodríguez.

He also threatened that Rodríguez would face “a fate worse than Maduro’s” if he did not comply with US demands, including demands for oil for which Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves.

on tuesday US president says Venezuela will ‘transfer’ up to 50 million barrels of oil to USHowever, Venezuela’s interim government has not yet commented on this statement.

Rodríguez’s tone has oscillated between defiant and conciliatory since he was appointed interim president by Venezuela’s Supreme Court.

He condemned Maduro’s capture as an “illegal kidnapping” but also said his government “invites the U.S. government to work together on a cooperation agenda.”

Now that he is in charge of the country, his actions are being closely watched both inside and outside Venezuela to gauge what route he might take and whether there are any signs of potential cracks in his government.

The dismissal of General Marcano Tábata is one of the first changes to senior officials in his inner circle.

In addition to being in charge of the presidential guard, General Marcano Tábata also led Venezuela’s military counterintelligence unit, DGCIM.

According to the United Nations, DGCIM played a key role in suppressing critics of Maduro’s government.

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission found that the counterintelligence unit had committed numerous human rights violations since 2013.

It documented numerous cases in which detainees were subjected to “torture, sexual violence and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” at DGCIM headquarters and a network of secret detention centers across the country.

However, his dismissal does not appear to have anything to do with the pressure exerted by the DGCIM, as the person appointed to replace him was head of an intelligence agency facing similar accusations.

Gustavo González López was in charge of Sebin, Venezuela’s national intelligence service, for many years.

Sebin controls the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas, where the UN has documented abuses against “opposition politicians, journalists, protesters and human rights defenders”.

Venezuelan analysts think the dismissal of General Marcano Tábata is most likely related to the failure of the presidential honor guard to prevent Maduro’s takeover.

Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela that has long provided security and intelligence services to Maduro, said 32 of its citizens were killed in the US raid.

Many are thought to have been placed in the presidential guard of honor.

The Venezuelan army announced that 23 of its members, including five generals, were killed in the US attacks.

Some supporters of the government said they felt “humiliated” after U.S. forces neutralized Venezuela’s defenses and Maduro’s personal bodyguards and captured the Venezuelan leader, who was then paraded before cameras with his hands tied and prison garb.

Replacing Marcano Tábata could be an attempt by the interim president to surround himself with people he trusts at a time when the threat of another U.S. attack looms over him.

President Trump said Saturday that U.S. forces were preparing a second wave of strikes but did not think it was necessary at the time.

But he has repeatedly said non-compliance would mean Rodríguez would “pay a huge price.”

He is not the only person in the interim government who could be targeted in a second attack.

Reuters news agency reportedly quoted unnamed sources said to be familiar with the matter as saying Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s hard-line interior minister, had been told by the Trump administration to follow the rules.

The United States has long accused Cabello of participating in a “narcotics conspiracy” in which she allegedly helped leftist rebels ship cocaine into the United States.

In January the US state department increased the reward for information leading to his capture to $25 million (£21 million).