Maduro taps hardline loyalist to oversee police forces, prompting fears of deepening crackdown

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday appointed a ruling socialist party boss to oversee the country’s police forces, empowering a hard-line loyalist who has vowed to pursue government opponents as part of a crackdown that has alarmed human rights groups.

Maduro named Diosdado Cabello interior minister as part of a Cabinet shuffle following last month’s contested presidential election.

Along with Maduro, Cabello is one of the most fervent stalwarts of the so-called Bolivarian revolution started by the late Hugo Chávez and has long been considered the second most powerful person in Venezuela after Maduro. A retired army lieutenant, he fought alongside Chávez in a failed military

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