Henry Rangel Silva

Who is Henry Rangel Silva?

Henry de Jesús Rangel Silva is the current governor of Trujillo, Venezuela. A military general and former Minister of Defense, Rangel Silva was previously the head of Operational Strategic Command of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, head of the DISIP and Director of CANTV. Rangel Silva took part in the coup attempt of February 1992 together with Hugo Chávez.

In 2008, the US Department of the Treasury asked for Rangel Silva's US accounts to be frozen on the charge that he had helped the FARC in narcotraffic activities.

In November 2010, Rangel Silva declared that the military forces are "married to the political, socialist project" led by Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. Then he added that the arrival of a government different from Chávez would be unacceptable:

The hypothesis is difficult, it would mean to sell of the country, people won't accept that, the Armed Forces won't and the people less.

Shortly after, Rangel was promoted to General-in-Chief, the highest rank obtainable in the Venezuelan military.

In October 2012, Rangel Silva was chosen as the PSUV's candidate in Trujillo state after the then-current governor, Hugo Cabezas, announced he would not seek re-election. In December, he was elected governor of Trujillo state by 82.30% of the vote, in Venezuela's regional elections of 2012.