Antonio José Benavides Torres (born 13 June 1961) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n Major General and former commander of the

Venezuelan National Guard The Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela ( es, Guardia Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela - GNB), is one of the four components of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela. The national guard can serve as gendarmerie, perform civil defense roles, ...

. As of 2015, Benavides was head of the Central Integral Defense Strategic Region for the

National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela The National Bolivarian Armed Forces ( es, Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana - FANB) of Venezuela are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the army, navy, and air force the ...

. Benavides was Head of Government of the

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

. Benavides took a one-year course from the United States

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defens ...

in Georgia in 2000.

International sanctions

Benavides has been sanctioned by several countries.

United States

The U.S. sanctioned Benavides for his role in the 2014 Venezuelan protests. U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

issued a presidential order in 2015 declaring Venezuela a "threat to its national security" and ordered the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

to freeze property and assets of seven Venezuelan officials. The U.S. held the seven individuals, including Benavides, responsible for "excesses committed in the repression of the demonstrations of February 2014 that left at least 43 dead" including "erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of political opponents, restrictions on press freedom, violence and human rights abuses in response to anti-government protests, arbitrary arrests and arrests of anti-government protesters, and significant public corruption" according to

BBC Mundo BBC Mundo (Spanish for ''BBC World'') is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 40 languages it provides. History BBC Mundo is the BBC's service for the Spanish-speaking world. It is part of BBC World Service. The w ...

Canada

Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Benavides, in September 2017. Also a
Punto de Corte
an
El Nacional
/ref> The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people will killed in the

2017 Venezuelan protests The 2017 Venezuelan protests were a series of protests occurring throughout Venezuela. Protests began in January 2017 after the arrest of multiple opposition leaders and the cancellation of dialogue between the opposition and Nicolás Maduro's g ...

and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship". Canadians were banned from transactions with the 40 individuals, whose Canadian assets were frozen.

European Union

The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

sanctioned seven Venezuela officials, including Benavides, on 18 January 2018, singling them out as being responsible for deteriorating democracy in the country. The sanctioned individuals were prohibited from entering the nations of the European Union, and their assets were frozen.

Panama

In March 2018, Panama sanctioned 55 public officials, including Benavides, Also a
Panama Economic and Finance Ministry
and Switzerland implemented sanctions, freezing the assets of seven ministers and high officials, including Benavides, due to human rights violations and deteriorating rule of law and democracy. Also a
Diario Las Americas
/ref>

Mexico

On 20 April 2018, the Mexican Senate froze the assets of officials of the Maduro administration, including Benavides, and prohibited them from entering Mexico. Also a
VPITV
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benavides Torres, Antonio 1961 births Living people Venezuelan generals People of the Crisis in Venezuela