The General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence () is the military
counterintelligence
Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...
agency of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, whose function is to prevent intelligence or espionage internally and externally by military and civilians.
The unit is led by
Iván Hernández Dala.
History
The agency originates from the Armed Forces Intelligence Services (SIFA), which was signed into service on 30 August 1957.
In 1974, the agency changed its name to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DIM). On 16 May 1977, the military organization changed its name to the Directorate General of Military Intelligence Sector (DGSIM) and then later changed the name of Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGIM). Under these names, their operations functioned as military intelligence for the Venezuelan military.
On 21 July 2011, the organization changed its name to the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), whose function is no longer military intelligence but counterintelligence.
Surgeon was arrested on 20 May 2018 by DGCIM officers, the day on which
presidential elections
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The ...
were held in Venezuela. During his detention, Marulando was tortured by officials and beaten to the point of becoming deaf in his right ear and losing sensation in his hands.
By November 2018, six months after his arrest, his hearing had been postponed six times.
The DGCIM has been targeted by US sanctions in 2019 after Venezuelan Navy Captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo died in DGCIM custody, accused of being involved in a coup plot.
Training
Since 2019, it was reported that Cuba provided assistance in training DGCIM agents.
Torture centres
The DGCIM is known to run a torture centre within its headquarters in Caracas, known as the
Casa de los Sueños ().
See also
*
Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención (Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services, DISIP)
*
General Counterintelligence Office
*
Torture in Venezuela
Torture in Venezuela has been a consistent phenomenon throughout its history. Various dictatorships from the Spanish colonial era into the twentieth century utilized torture against common criminals and political opponents. In the twentieth cent ...
References
Secret police
Venezuelan intelligence agencies
Military of Venezuela
Military intelligence agencies
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