This morning, El Mundo reports that Hugo Chávez has appointed Henry Rangel Silva (in the photo) as the head of the strategic and operational command of the Venezuelan army. Rangel Silva was designated in 2008 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for materially assisting the narcotrafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narcoterrorist organization.
Regarding this decision, Chávez is quoted saying that Rangel Silva “deserved” the promotion and that he was “his captain” when the Venezuelan leader was briefly overthrown in April 2002.
Let’s see how long it takes for international media, and indeed the authorities, to recognize the appointment of a collaborator of Colombian narcoterrorists to such a position.