Venezuela is entering a new chapter in its complex military history. The regime of Nicolás Maduro recently announced a supposed strengthening of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), introducing the creation of new battalions and companies. However, behind this propagandistic announcement lies a clear strategy: to consolidate internal control and weaken any threats within the Army that could challenge central power.
The National Guard: An Army for Repression
The Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has become the largest component of the FANB, with approximately 110,000 personnel. Experts in security and organizations like InSight Crime and ACLED indicate that the GNB has ceased to be merely a territorial defense force to become the main tool for social control and internal repression of the regime.
The increase in personnel and resources in the GNB does not respond to a defense strategy against external threats, but to ensure the monopoly of the use of force in the country. Recent mobilizations and urban patrols show that the regime’s focus is on supervising, intimidating, and silencing the population, rather than protecting national sovereignty.
The Weakened Army: A Strategy to Prevent Uprisings
In contrast, the Venezuelan Army has received only a cosmetic expansion. Maduro ordered the creation of new battalions and companies, but without adding additional personnel. The result is a symbolically larger Army, yet actually weakened and fragmented.
The goal is clear: to strip power from commanders and limit their firepower. Historically, internal rebellions against Chavismo have originated within this component. With this restructuring, Maduro ensures that no military command has sufficient troops or autonomy to challenge him.
Political Control Disguised as National Defense
The regime’s official narrative claims that these measures aim to protect sovereignty against external threats, including alleged maneuvers by the United States in the Caribbean. However, military sources and analysts assert that the real objective is to shield the regime from its own officers and maintain the GNB as an internal repression force.
This double discourse allows the regime to project an image of strength and legitimacy, while in practice reinforcing a military apparatus designed to sustain political power rather than the country.
Consequences and Risks
The outcome of this strategy is a Venezuela where:
- The National Guard grows as a tool for social control and repression.
- The Army loses autonomy, firepower, and capacity for initiative.
- Maduro maintains the monopoly on military power, ensuring that any resistance within the armed forces is neutralized before it can materialize.
Independent analysts agree that this militarization does not enhance the country’s defense, but reinforces a police-military state focused on the survival of the regime against the population and its own military structure.
Maduro’s announcement regarding the growth of the FANB reveals the true nature of the regime: a government that fears its own officers more than any external threat. The expansion of the National Guard and the weakness of the Army demonstrate that the Chavismo’s priority is maintaining internal control, not ensuring national security.
The official narrative of sovereignty and defense thus becomes bare: power protects itself, not the citizens.