Venezuela would resort to guerrilla tactics in event of US attack, sources say
Venezuela is moving to deploy weapons and prepare for a guerrilla-style resistance or street-level chaos if faced with a U.S. air or ground attack, new planning documents and government statements indicate. The strategy acknowledges the country’s limits in personnel and modern equipment: much of the military inventory is older Russian-made hardware, and routine shortages have left units relying on local supplies for food and basic needs. Officials have discussed a “prolonged resistance” plan that would use small units at more than 280 locations to carry out sabotage and irregular warfare, alongside a separate “anarchization” approach aimed at creating disorder in Caracas through intelligence operatives, armed ruling-party supporters, and militia members to make the capital ungovernable for foreign forces. President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly vowed that citizens and the armed forces will resist any attempt to unseat him, even as Venezuelan commanders acknowledge they would be outmatched in a conventional fight.
Despite those public vows, the country faces stark capability gaps. The armed forces number roughly 60,000 in the Army and National Guard, while claims of millions training in militias contrast with estimates that only a few thousand might take part in organized street operations. Soldiers are poorly paid and undertrained, and much of the equipment—fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, and shoulder-fired missiles—is dated and limited in effectiveness against a modern military. The government has deployed portable anti-air missiles and disseminated contingency plans for dispersal and irregular defense, and it has sought assistance from allies for repairs and upgrades. Analysts say the plans are as much about deterrence and signaling—warning that an invasion could spawn chaos—as about realistic military success, given Venezuela’s material and logistical weaknesses.
Comments
Post a Comment