Fernando Ochoa Antich

Free Venezuela

Today Andrés Correa interviews Fernando Ochoa Antich, a former member of the Venezuelan military (retired), lawyer, diplomat and politician. As Minister of Defense he dealt directly with the unrest of February 4th, 1992. Later he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador of Venezuela to Mexico. Currently he is a columnist for El Universal. In this podcast he talks about how the Maduro administration has tried to weaken the Venezuelan military while creating an unprecedented number of high rank posts in an effort to divide its leadership. He discusses his belief that Carmen Meléndez, current Minister of Defense (first woman in Venezuelan history), is making the same mistakes as her predecessors: she is unable to see the difference between government and State, and to prevent growing corruption in the armed forces. Nevertheless, he is confident that eventually, as happened along the 20th Century, that the Venezuelan military will play a role in resolving the current crisis.