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Venezuela Manpower
The FAN consisted of a well-paid professional officers
corps,
a well-paid nucleus of career noncommissioned officers
(NCOs),
and two-year conscripts who comprised the bulk of the
noncommissioned officers and all of the privates and
seamen. The
National Guard was an exception to this pattern; it was
made up
completely of volunteers, many of whom had already
completed
their conscriptive service in one of the other services.
According to the Laws and Regulations of the FAN, all
Venezuelans between the ages of eighteen and fifty shared
an
equal obligation to military service. All citizens,
including
women, were required to register for conscription. In
practice,
however, conscription drew disproportionately from young
men in
rural areas and from among the poor. This was partially a
result
of the numerous categories of deferments allowed potential
draftees. Recruits could be deferred for illness or
disability,
marriage, a sibling already in service, status as sole
support of
one's family, pursuit of higher education, and membership
in
certain religious denominations advocating pacifism. Other
explanations for the nonrepresentative nature of draftees
included the relatively low manpower needs of the FAN and
the
comparative benefit of a military salary for youths of the
lower
class.
The role of women changed slightly in the Venezuelan
military
after the passage of a revised conscription law in 1978.
Although
the law required women to register for the draft--an
unprecedented development--it stated that military service
for
women was mandatory only in time of war. As Venezuela has
never
engaged in a war with any of its neighbors, it appeared
unlikely
that women would ever be called to service in any
significant
numbers. As for those women who elected voluntary military
service, the minister of national defense determined which
units
could accept these recruits. The categories of service
open to
women included support positions, health, civil defense,
police,
transport, and refugee services.
The pay and perquisites of Venezuelan military
personnel were
generous by Latin American standards. Traditionally, pay
scales
have been maintained at a rough parity with those of the
United
States armed forces. In addition, officers and career
noncommissioned officers and their immediate families
enjoyed
access to a military social security system administered
independently by the FAN. The system provided medical care
to
military personnel at little or no cost. Pension benefits
were
also generous. The categories of pensioners included those
with
certified disabilities, those who reached the limit of
their
time-in-grade without promotion, retirees, and surviving
family
members of deceased military personnel. Members of the FAN
became
eligible for retirement after ten years of service.
Retirement
became mandatory after thirty years, at which point one
could
retire at full salary. The president had the authority to
extend
the careers of certain officers beyond the thirty-year
limit with
the approval of the Superior Board of the FAN. No one,
however,
was allowed to serve more than thirty-five years in the
military.
Data as of December 1990
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