Venezuela ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN NATIONAL LIFE
Venezuelan marine infantry
Courtesy Embassy of Venezuela, Washington
Missions
Broadly speaking, the FAN by the 1990s exhibited two
major
missions: external defense and internal security. The
counterinsurgency mission of the 1960s and 1970s had
terminated
with the successful resolution of the conflict with
leftist
guerrillas. After that time, the military's approach to
its
missions became less focused, and the armed forces became
a more
technocratic and bureaucratic institution that was more
susceptible to the pressures of politics. Although
Venezuela's
oil resources lent a certain impetus to the external
defense
mission of the FAN, the absence of a viable external
threat
dulled the response of policy makers and shifted the
motivation
of defense planners away from contingency planning and
more
toward political considerations, such as maintaining
military pay
and benefits. This phenomenon appeared likely to persist
and to
intensify as the potential conventional threat from Cuba,
which
had seemed viable during the early 1980s, continued to
wane
during the 1990s.
Venezuelan military doctrine, in keeping with the
perceived
role of the armed forces in a democratic state,
theoretically
emphasized readiness for external defense. Strategic
planners
attempted to prepare their forces to engage in a conflict
of
limited objectives. Tactically, the doctrine called for
the
employment of combined forces capable of employing
significant
firepower and shock capability, while also displaying
adequate
mobility. It stressed an active defense in which regular
forces
would engage the enemy and reserves would man static
defensive
positions. The FAN's amphibious and air transport
capabilities,
though limited, extended its strategic reach somewhat;
naval
forces also lent a degree of support to a ground effort in
the
areas of sealift and antisubmarine warfare. Although the
FAN's
ability to implement its doctrine was hampered by
equipment
shortages, maintenance problems, and other logistical
shortcomings, these problems generally were less severe
than
those exhibited by most other Latin American military
institutions.
Although the probability of external conflict was low,
the
role of the FAN in national life was still significant.
Even
under the democratic system reestablished in 1958, the FAN
(including the National Guard) retained certain
traditional
responsibilities. Among these were the regulation and
control of
national highways; the security of basic industries such
as
petroleum and petrochemicals, energy production, and steel
production; the administration of the prison system; the
enforcement of federal taxes on alcoholic beverages; and
the
regulation of customs and immigration. In response to the
FAN's
traditional concern with the national borders, an
active-duty
officer usually headed the Directorate of Frontiers of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to law, Venezuelan
frontier regions were considered security zones;
accordingly,
foreigners could not own land in these areas, and no
construction
or industrial development could take place there without
the
approval of the government as expressed by the Ministry of
National Defense. Other security zones included coastal
areas,
territory surrounding lakes and rivers, and areas adjacent
to
military installations and to industrial facilities
engaged in
basic industrial production. In a more limited sphere, the
FAN
also conducted small-scale civic-action projects. Most of
these
projects were confined to the dispensing of medical care--
immunization and dental and medical attention--to
residents of
isolated rural areas. The army has also provided literacy
programs for these citizens.
In theory, the internal security mission of the FAN
involved
the National Guard more than the other branches of
service. This
stemmed from the purely domestic orientation of the
National
Guard. In practice, however, the delineation of mission
blurred
somewhat. National Guard posts in frontier regions have
responded
to cross-border attacks and incursions by Colombian
insurgent
forces, thereby fulfilling an external defense mission.
Some
observers also have characterized National Guard efforts
against
drug trafficking as an external defense effort. By the
same
token, Venezuelan governments have accepted the fact that
regular
military forces at times may have to be employed in order
to
maintain order in major cities. When riots or violent
demonstrations have broken out, the public routinely has
demanded
a response from the minister of defense in addition to the
efforts expended by local police.
Data as of December 1990
|