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National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela

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File:BanderaEjércitoVenezolano.gif
Official flag of the Venezuelan army.

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.

Organisation

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, 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 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.)

Procurements

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 regime of President Hugo Chavez. Chavez 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.[1]

Venezuela has also recently purchased 100,000 AK-103 assault rifles and 12 Mi-17 military helicopters from Russia.[2] 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 several Sukhoi fighter and ground attack planes, possibly Su-27/Su-30/Su-35 and Su-25. Purchasing Chinese J-10 multipurpose aircraft is also being considered.

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 the Americans 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 FAL have been in service more than 50 years. The government also claims that the US initiated an arms race by supplying subversive groups in Latin América throughout the past century (referring to the Cold War and the contra affair, among others).

Military branches

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)

Statistics

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)


References


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