{"id":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","canonicalName":"José Ornelas Ferreira","primaryCountryId":"VE","dateOfBirth":"14/12/1964","placeOfBirth":"Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela","nationality":"VE","position":"(1) Chief of Staff of the Commander in Chief of the Venezuelan Armed Forces (2) Deputy Minister of Monitoring and Inspection of Government Administration (3) Secretary General of the National Defence Council (SECODENA) (4) Former Second-in-Command of CEOFANB (5) Chief of Staff of CEOFANB","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.182Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-28T12:11:22.186Z","aliases":[{"id":"6f8a354e-7e50-4044-b378-3291e4f6e013","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"José Ornelas Ferreira","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.184Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}},{"id":"464c6ae4-4ea5-4c4e-8618-fdd199787400","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"José Adelino Ornelas Ferreira","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.187Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}},{"id":"008ea4a4-e50d-4cdd-a4f9-b32f71c6099d","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"José Adelino Ornella Ferreira","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.190Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}},{"id":"8bc03ec6-54e6-4a92-b4aa-479e504218ab","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"José Adelino Ornellas Ferreira","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.192Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}},{"id":"13154075-270d-47e0-8067-55c9add2c82f","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino ORNELAS FERREIRA","sourceId":"9681e473-40c3-4095-9fb1-3ffc194079f4","createdAt":"2026-08-28T12:11:22.174Z","source":{"name":"UK OFSI Consolidated List"}},{"id":"6f9ed8a1-3d87-4869-afc7-eeeabe69db63","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino ORNELLA FERREIRA","sourceId":"9681e473-40c3-4095-9fb1-3ffc194079f4","createdAt":"2026-08-28T12:11:22.177Z","source":{"name":"UK OFSI Consolidated List"}},{"id":"db71e488-8fe4-4314-9eb2-8292de331955","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino ORNELLAS FERREIRA","sourceId":"9681e473-40c3-4095-9fb1-3ffc194079f4","createdAt":"2026-08-28T12:11:22.180Z","source":{"name":"UK OFSI Consolidated List"}},{"id":"35658602-c812-43b8-b520-7ad457ca77ed","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino Ornela Ferreira","sourceId":"66ed4dc0-67b5-4ea8-9685-1af45959994b","createdAt":"2026-09-13T15:07:30.760Z","source":{"name":"UK Sanctions List (FCDO)"}},{"id":"3a7b6e41-6531-4fd2-97fd-7c09a4c23629","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino Ornella Ferreira","sourceId":"66ed4dc0-67b5-4ea8-9685-1af45959994b","createdAt":"2026-09-13T15:07:30.762Z","source":{"name":"UK Sanctions List (FCDO)"}},{"id":"06aed744-6961-43c8-b686-613f09d6f722","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","name":"Jose Adelino Ornellas Ferreira","sourceId":"66ed4dc0-67b5-4ea8-9685-1af45959994b","createdAt":"2026-09-13T15:07:30.764Z","source":{"name":"UK Sanctions List (FCDO)"}}],"identifiers":[{"id":"d8db0c21-fae3-47ee-b327-8efe275c08fa","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","type":"national_id","value":"V-7087964","countryId":"VE","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:40:28.322Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}}],"sanctions":[{"id":"889e2843-8e59-4767-928c-28fed8f7fd75","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","regime":"Switzerland SECO","program":"Venezuela","sourceId":"17544574-74c4-4ccd-93e0-7f0aa625d80d","createdAt":"2026-08-08T17:29:43.195Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-19T09:03:21.122Z","delistedAt":null,"designatedAt":null,"legalBasis":"Ordinance of 28 March 2018 on measures against Venezuela (RS 946.231.178.5), art. 2 para. 1 (Financial sanctions) and art. 3 para. 1 (Travelban)","reason":"Secretary-General of the National Defence Council since 26 Jul 2019 and Chief of the General Staff to the Commander-in-Chief since Sep 2020. Former commander of the National Capital Integral Strategic Defence Region (REDI Capital), former Chief of Staff and former Second-in-Command of the Operational and Strategic Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela (CEOFANB). In these roles he has supported and facilitated actions and policies of the Government of Venezuela which have undermined democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela. Responsible for serious human rights violations and the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Venezuela, including obstructing the provision of humanitarian aid and the use of excessive force by officials of the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB), and by subordinate forces under his command, including the Integral Strategic Defence Region (REDI), the Integral Defence Operations Zone (ZODI) and the Bolivarian National Guard.","sanctionType":"Financial sanctions; Travel ban","documentUrl":null,"source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List"}},{"id":"433d8b66-b655-4cf4-b2a7-20b927c7e52b","personId":"b2a444fa-8e5a-4178-ac84-622831e682f8","regime":"UK OFSI","program":"Venezuela","sourceId":"66ed4dc0-67b5-4ea8-9685-1af45959994b","createdAt":"2026-08-28T12:11:22.188Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-19T05:02:06.130Z","delistedAt":null,"designatedAt":null,"legalBasis":null,"reason":"Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief FANB, Deputy Minister of Monitoring and Inspection of Government Administration, and Secretary General of the National Defence Council (SECODENA). José Adelino Ornelas Ferreira has been Second in Command and Chief of Staff of Strategic Command Operations of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (CEOFANB) since June 2017, having been appointed to the post by Nicolas Maduro. The CEOFANB is the highest point of command in the Venezuelan armed forces. The CEOFANB sets the strategic direction of all strands of the Venezuelan military (Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Guard (GNB)), coordinates them, and implements operations. Since September 2020, Ornelas has been the Chief of the General Staff to the Commander in Chief. There is reliable evidence that the GNB has committed serious human rights violations during Ferreira’s period in charge. A report by OHCHR in 2018 documents incidents of people deprived of their liberty and subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and (in many cases possibly) torture, reportedly carried out in part by the GNB.  Some of these incidents occurred in the period that Ferreira has held the position of Commander of the CEOFANB. As a commander of the CEOFANB, and Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief and Strategic Command Operations, and thus in charge of the GNB, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Ferreira was involved in those acts. There is reliable evidence that the GNB used excessive force against people in the Pemon territory in February 2019, including killing three people, and carried out extrajudicial killings of an alleged terrorist group in El Junquito, Caracas. As a CEOFANB Commander and Chief of Staff at the time, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Ferreira was involved in those grave human rights violations. Finally, there is reliable evidence that In May 2019 members of the Venezuelan National Guard (GNB), which sits under the command of the CEOFANB, during Ferreira’s time in role, used tear gas to disperse a march of opposition supporters.  Due to his role, Ferreira is partially responsible for this repression of civil society and violation of freedom of expression.","sanctionType":null,"documentUrl":null,"source":{"name":"UK Sanctions List (FCDO)"}}],"sourceLinks":[{"externalId":"42931","fetchedAt":"2026-10-19T09:03:21.122Z","source":{"name":"Switzerland SECO Sanctions List","url":"https://www.seco.admin.ch/seco/en/home/Aussenwirtschaftspolitik_Wirtschaftliche_Zusammenarbeit/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/exportkontrollen-und-sanktionen/sanktionen-embargos.html","official":false,"entityType":"company"}},{"externalId":"13841","fetchedAt":"2026-10-19T05:02:06.130Z","source":{"name":"UK Sanctions List (FCDO)","url":"https://sanctionslist.fcdo.gov.uk/docs/UK-Sanctions-List.xml","official":false,"entityType":"company"}},{"externalId":"13841","fetchedAt":"2026-10-08T15:05:44.469Z","source":{"name":"UK OFSI Consolidated List","url":"https://ofsistorage.blob.core.windows.net/publishlive/2022format/ConList.xml","official":false,"entityType":"company"}}],"officerRoles":[],"wikidata":null}