The Chavista ruler denounces what he considers “the greatest threat that has been seen in our continent in the last 100 years” after the mobilization of American warships to the Caribbean for operations against drug trafficking.
“They are looking for a regime change through military threat and staining the hands of Donald Trump of Blood,” Maduro told foreign correspondents. “If Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately go to the period of struggle navy”.
Analysts discard a conventional military operation aimed at Venezuela by the United States, which has the most powerful army in the world.
Human power
Baptized as Bolivarian by Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan Armed Forces does not hide your politicization. “Chávez lives!” It is today its official greeting and is defined as “socialist and anti -imperialist.”
The military parades show soldiers in tactical uniform, painted faces, armed of AK47 rifles, bazucas and mortars march to the cry of political slogans.
There is no official figure of active members. A report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is fixed on 123,000, plus 220,000 militiamen and 8,000 reservists.
The Militia, created by Chávez In 2009, it is the fifth component of the Armed Forces, after the army, the Navy, the Aviation and the National Guard. This formed by civilians with high ideological load.
Unreal figure
Maduro also promoted the formation of defense bodies in public companies and communities: the “Gringa threat” It has been the center of the official propaganda, with calls to the national unit and advertisements in the state TV where heroes generated by artificial intelligence call the “I alist.”
Maduro said that Venezuela has more than 8 million militiamen and reservists, equivalent to one third of the population. Analysts consider the unreal figure.
“We have the blood of Bolívar Libertador,” said Moisés Arévalo, 63, enlisting in the capital. “When we were Indians we defended Venezuela; now that we are better prepared, we will continue to defend it.”
Chávez purchases
During the oil bonanza, Venezuela made millionaire military investments.
Between 2006 and 2011, CHe cheated Russia teams for more than 11,000 million dollars, explained Evan EllisProfessor of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the United States Army School.
The purchase included 23 30mkv Sukhoi aircraft, eight Mi17 helicopters, 12 radar platforms and Russian anti-aircraft missiles S-300vm and 44 S 125 Pier.
More recently, he acquired Eight Mohajer drones, With Iranian technology.
“The problem is that If they are not coordinated, these military systems are useless“said a retired general who held high positions in the force. He asked for anonymity.
“The armed force is not collectively trained to use all those elements of land, air and sea. Coordinate that, without previous exercises, it makes it difficult to command a complex operation.”
The crisis
Military expenditure fell to 3,917 million dollars in 2023, according to the International Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), compared to 4,600 million in 2022 and the 6,200 million record in 2013.
The crisis that collapsed 80% of GDP also hit the military forces, despite being the most privileged by Maduro. Since 2017, Venezuela suffers an embargo on weapons from the European Union and the United States. Hence the approach to Russia and China.
“Moscow will comprehensively support the efforts of the Venezuelan government to protect its national sovereignty,” said the Russian ambassador to Venezuela, Sergey Mélik-Bagdasárov.
The officer who spoke in anonymity stood out high levels of dropout and very low recruitment quotas. “Morality is well below the expected for a conflict.”
How many planes and tanks?
Venezuela has 15 F16 A fighters, bought from the United States in the 1980s, when they were allies. Also 173 French AMX 13 tanks, 78 Light British Scorpion-90 tanks and a SSK Sabalo submarine, acquired from Germany in 1973.
It also has two Italian frigates, an inoperative; Nine coastal patrolmen, three landing ships for 12 tanks and 200 men, and 25 artillery boats.
“Winning the United States is impossible,” the general insisted, although he estimated that this country “does not have the ability to occupy” all Venezuela.
However, alarm is not breathed in the streets. “Everything is under control,” said Graciela Villalobos, 33, on a beach in La Guaira, neighbor of Caracas. “Things are stable,” he said.
