The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Venezuela Gets Ready For Civil War
by James Dunnigan
March 30, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
Venezuela is having problems with the loyalty of its armed forces. The current
government is run by a former army officer Hugo Chavez. Normally, that would not
be a problem. But Chavez sees himself as another Fidel Castro. That is, the
rebel Castro before he proclaimed himself a hard core communist. Chavez wants
social revolution in Venezuela, but many, perhaps a majority, of Venezuelans
don’t want to be another Cuba. While Venezuela's oil wealth has not been
distributed equally, it has created a large middle class. This includes the
military. Many of the troops are nervous about Chavez, and his social programs.
Even some of Chavez’s military decisions have caused unease among officers and
troops. For example, Chavez is now buying military equipment from Russia. This
includes helicopters (nine Mi-17s and one Mi-26) for the navy. The navy
considers these helicopters unsuitable for naval use. The sailors are correct,
but the price is cheap, and Chavez wants to make a political point.
The
army is unhappy about the cozy relationship between Chavez and leftist rebel
groups in neighboring Colombia. Venezuelan troops have been operating more
aggressively along the Colombian border. This is officially a crackdown on the
smugglers who always have operated there. But the Venezuelan troops are accused
to really going after the Colombian rebels, or supporting them. Take your pick.
No one is sure exactly what is going on.
To top it all off, Chavez is now
organizing a new army, one loyal to him personally. This is part of his plan
create "Bolivarian Circles of Venezuela Frontline Defense for National
Democratic Revolution." These are political clubs all over the country,
particularly in poor areas, where Chavez has the most support. Chavez expects to
have 2.2 million members, who will be the backbone of the “democratic revolution
unfolding in Venezuela." What upsets the armed forces is Chavezs decision to
pass out infantry weapons to these political clubs, so that his new political
clubs can use force to “defend the revolution.” There are believed to be Cuban
advisors involved in this effort. This sort of mass organization has been used
before in Latin America, by both leftist and rightist dictators (pro-fascist
Juan Peron of Argentina, and communist Fidel Castro of Cuba.) But by passing out
guns to his most dedicated followers, Chavez is angering the military, making
the middle class even more nervous, and setting the stage for a bloody civil
war.
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