Military of Venezuela
As of 2000, the
national armed forces of Venezuela (FAN Fuerza Armada Nacional) enlisted 87,500 individuals in four service branches--the Army, Navy (including the Marine Corps), Air Force, and the Armed Forces of Cooperation (FAC), commonly known as the National Guard.
As of 2005, about 100,000 soldiers were integrated in the military through a fifth service branch, the Armed Reserve, although this force is more of a militia than a formal, professional armed corps.
In 2001, a civilian was appointed Minister of Defense for the first time in many decades. His role is largely policy-oriented, and operational command remains with a uniformed services commander.
As of 2006 the FAN will be transformed into six service branches, the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Reserve and the Territorial Guard. The Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard will serve under the Strategic Operational Command (Comando Estratégico Operacional), the National Reserve and the Territorial Guard will serve under the National Reserve and Mobilization Command (Comando General de la Reserva Nacional y Movilizacion Nacional)
The Venezuelan army bears the title
"Forjador de Libertades" or "Creator of Freedoms". This refers to Venezuelan armies fighting Venezuela's independence war, as well as the independence wars of other four countries, namely
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Perú,
Panamá (then part of
New Granada, present day Colombia) and
Bolivia.
The army's officer rank system is unremarkable, but the system of non-commissioned ranks is notably complicated, with eighteen non-commissioned ranks from
Distinguido to
Maestro Técnico Supervisor. (For comparison, there are seven NATO non-commissioned ranks (OR-3 to OR-9) and six British non-commissioned army ranks.)
The Venezuelan government has embarked on a massive military modernization and purchases that greatly expand their defensive and offensive capabilities, including negotiations for
German submarines and transport aircraft, several agreements with
Russia (outlined ahead), transport aircraft and naval vessels from
Spain, radars from
China, home-made and designed armored light vehicles and rocket launchers, studies for
Leopard 2 main battle tanks, amongst many others.
In 2005 Venezuela signed agreements with
Spain to procure 12 naval
transport and
reconnaissance aircraft and eight naval
patrol vessels. The deals have been greeted with criticism from the
United States, which opposes the government of President
Hugo Chávez, who claims the deal is necessary for Venezuela's defense, and criticizes the United States for failing to supply spare parts for Venezuelan
F-16 fighter jets. The United States, in turn, hoped to block the deal, but since the Spanish defense industry can replicate American technology with more expensive European parts, an
export license from the United States is no longer required. The deal is worth $1.5-2 billion
dollars to the Spanish
defense industry, as well as an estimated 900 new jobs. This has added to recent tensions between the U.S. and Spain, stemming from Spain's withdrawal of its armed forces from Iraq in the wake of
Al-Qaeda threats and attacks in Madrid.
Venezuela has also recently purchased 100,000
AK-103 assault rifles and 12
Mi-17 military helicopters from
Russia.
[http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2005/11/16/internacionales/5876]The government of Venezuela has also announced its intention to obtain about 3 dozen more
Russian helicopters, including
Mi-17 "Hip",
Mi-26 "Halo" and
Mi-35 "Hind", as well as announcing the procurement of 24
Su-30 Interceptors with future possible purchases of
Su-35 fighters. [
1]
Such purchases have marked a line of separation from the traditional US supply lines, replacing them with other nations like
Russia and
China, clear counter-weights to the US in global matters. Clearly, this divergence is a sign of the current regime's anti-US policies.
Impasse with the United States
These acquisitions and other projects are opposed by the
United States, which claims that
Venezuela does not need such large quantities of weaponry. The U.S. accuses Venezuela of starting an arms race, which they fear will destabilize the military equilibrium in
South América. Venezuela is also accused of supplying small arms to neighboring
Colombian guerrilla organizations including
FARC, which is sympathetic to
Chávez.
United States criticism is met with skepticism by
Venezuelan authorities, who claim the weapons are needed to update the basic equipment in the armed forces. In some cases, Venezuelan armaments like the
FN FAL have been in service more than 50 years. The government also claims that the
US has been the one to initiate arms races and de-stabilize countries by supplying subversive groups in
Latin América throughout the past century (referring to the
Cold War and the
contra affair, among others).
In the 1990s Venezuela requested a batch of F-16C/Ds to update it's F-16 fighter fleet, but the U.S. government blocked the request. [
2] In October 1997 the US government approved the sale of the two crash replacement F-16s, but subsequently halted the sale. [
3] In 2005 a contract with
Israel Aircraft Industries to upgrade Venezuela's F-16s was frozen following U.S. pressure. [
4] Chavez subsequently accused the U.S. of delaying the sale of spare parts to maintain Venezuela's F-16s.
National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacional or FAN) includes:
*
Ground Forces or Army (Fuerzas Terrestres or Ejercito)
*
Naval Forces (Fuerzas Navales or Armada)
*
Air Force (Fuerzas Aereas or Aviacion)
* Armed Forces of Cooperation or National Guard (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperacion or Guardia Nacional)
* National Reserve (Reserva Nacional)
* Territorial Guard (Guardia Territorial)
Military manpower - military age:18 years of age
Military manpower - availability:males age 15-49:6,236,012 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:males age 15-49:4,907,947 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:males:252,396 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:$1,687 million (FY04)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:1.5% (FY04)
*
Venezuela*
Sitio Oficial del Ejército Venezolano "Forjador de Libertades" - Official website of Venezuela's military
*
Venezuela - Gallery of Military Flags*
Venezuela's new model army Hilary Wainwright, Red Pepper April 2006
*
Unnoficial website concerning the Venezuelan armed forces, focusing on the Venezuelan Air Force*http://www.mosnews.com/money/2006/06/15/chavezrussianjets.shtml
