The Bolivarian armed forces of Venezuela are composed of the army, land, air and sea forces, as well as the National Guard, and the national militia, whose mission is to protect internal security.
In 2005 Venezuela announced the establishment of a large reserve force of 1.5 million people.
- Date
In the eighteenth century Spanish military forces formed organized military forces in what was known as the province of Venezuela. The first infantry units arrived from Spain in 1732 and the cavalry of the cavalry in 1751.
After the independence of the country, Venezuela developed its tactical and strategic capabilities. In 1891 there were 2,950 generals and 3366 colonels. In 1910, the Venezuelan military forces launched a modernization campaign with the help of Chile, France, Italy and Germany.
After 1945, the American influence on the Venezuelan army grew, and until 1970 the United States continued supplying Caracas with ground military equipment.
Since the Bolivarian revolution of 1999, and the freezing of relations between Venezuela and the West, Russia in the millennium years has been Venezuela's main financier of heavy weapons, armored vehicles and fighter aircraft, and China provides training aircraft, light vehicles and surveillance radars.
Since 2000 women have been able to join the army in Venezuela. Military service is compulsory for all Venezuelans for 18 years of age. - Military doctrine
The military doctrine of the Venezuelan armed forces is based on the policy formulated by the late President Hugo Chavez. "The duty of the national army is to be patriotic, popular, and anti-imperialist," he said.
According to Chávez's policy, the army also follows the principles of defending the "popular resistance war" against the enemies of the republic, "assisting in the internal order", as well as participating in government economic development plans and programs for the benefit of the people of Venezuela.
The role of the armed forces in defending Venezuelan territory lies in the attack, combating drug trafficking, providing search and rescue capabilities, assisting the civilian population in the protection of natural disasters, as well as numerous internal security functions.
_ Military force
According to Global Fire Power, in 2016 the Venezuelan army occupied the 45th ranking of the world's armies. Military power is divided into: - Air Force
The Air Force consists of 280 pieces, led by 39 fighter aircraft and 33 attack aircraft, while military transport aircraft 143, as well as 96 aircraft for training. At the helicopter level, Venezuela has 88 helicopters for various purposes, as well as 10 attack helicopters. - Wild Weapon
Venezuela has 696 tanks and 700 combat armored vehicles, as well as 104 guns and 52 rocket launchers. - navy
At the naval level, which has an estimated 12,000 troops, there are a total of 50 military units, topped by six frigates, 13 warships and two submarines.
In addition to the army branches above, the National Guard has 70,000 members deployed in nine military zones. According to the Constitution, it is part of the military system, but it functions as police. - Structure
Under the constitutional provisions, the President of Venezuela is considered the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and therefore has general supervision and control. He also appoints the Minister of Defense, the Chief Executive Operational Command, and the Senior Generals of the Service Branches, and has full authority over all regular personnel.
The President is assisted by the Chief of General Staff of the Supreme Commander. - The army mobilized
The Venezuelan army took the lead in August 2017, with President Donald Trump waving a military move against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. As a result, the latter mobilized the army and called on him to prepare "to fight fiercely against a possible invasion" by the United States.
Maduro also conducted military exercises involving tank landing on the beach and the deployment of snipers with camouflage camouflage, and wrote on Twitter that "the people and the army defend the land and sovereignty."
The Venezuelan army has deployed warplanes and tanks, about 200 thousand troops and 700 thousand reserve soldiers and armed civilians with the start of the exercises, which was called "Bolivarian sovereignty 2017."