Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named Nestor Reverol as his new interior minister only days after the US indicted the official for helping drug dealers. Maduro slammed the charges as an attack from "the US empire."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
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The newly appointed minister is a military general and previously served as interior minister under late President Hugo Chavez. Reverol also led Venezuela's anti-narcotic agency.
"As interior minister, he broke the world record for capturing traffickers; that is why they want to make him pay - the DEA and all the US drug mafias," Maduro said on Thursday, referring to allegations against Reverol.
"That's why I have named this brave, combative, experienced man."
Earlier this week, US prosecutors announced an indictment against the 51-year-old general, claiming he took bribes and helped cocaine traffickers distribute drugs in the US between 2008 and 2010.
Reverol allegedly leaked information on raids and locations of anti-drug officers, hindered searches of drug-smuggling vehicles and arranged for suspects to be released.
New 'mission' for Perez
President Maduro, however, dismissed the claims as international conspiracy against Reverol, adding that his promotion would boost security in the troubled country.
"I offer all my personal support ... to him and his family after he has been attacked by the US empire," he said.
In a surprise move, Maduro also removed vice-president for economy and industry Miguel Perez, who was seen as a potential reformer within the cabinet.
"I told him to rest for five or six days. I have given him a new mission - we will announce it soon," Maduro said of Perez.
Combating coke dealers
Drug-related crimes remain a serious problem in South America as the continent prepares for the Rio Olympic Games.
Officials in Peru, the second-largest cocaine producer in the world, said it had captured almost 100 drug mules who carried packs of cocaine in their stomachs this year. Smugglers hope to cash in on the expected spike in demand.
The authorities noticed a similar spike before the Brazil World Cup in 2014.
On Tuesday, Bolivia intercepted a shipment of 7.5 tons of cocaine in a record breaking bust. Only hours later, Colombian anti-narcotic police said they had destroyed 104 cocaine laboratories across the country's remote southeast.
The labs were capable of producing 100 tons of cocaine per year, officials said.
dj/rs (Reuters, EFE)
Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble
Lufthansa has canceled service to Caracas as Venezuela's economic turmoil worsens. The country is one of the world's largest oil producers, but plunging prices have brought inflation to 180 percent in the past year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/M. Gutiérrez
Hyperinflation bites into economy
Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Ismar
Food shortages
Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barreto
Queuing up to buy food
Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Gathering signatures
Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Green light for petition
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Pushing for referendum
Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.
Image: Reuters/M. Bello
Students protest
Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Severe drought
A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Drought wreaks havoc
The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Health care suffers
Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Cubillos
Maduro under fire
Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro.
