Name: How is the political role of Venezuela's military changing after the US raid? | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-01-08T17:09:37.000Z
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US forces encountered little resistance from Venezuela's military when they captured the country's far left leader, Nicolas Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

The successful operation exposed the massive power discrepancy between the two countries.

And with President Trump still to rule out further strikes, there is a question of what, if any, resistance Venezuela's armed forces could provide.

The American raid in Caracas did more than capture the country's leader.

It sent a message any resistance will be met with the combined might of the US Military.

Dozens of targets were struck in the country, killing at least 80 people.

That's according to Venezuelan officials.

No Americans were killed in the operation.

On paper at least, Venezuela's military is one of the most powerful in the region, boasting more than 100,000 active duty troops, 200 combat aircraft and over 170 tanks.

But most of the hardware is aging equipment bought from Russia designed during the Cold War.

Experts warn years of economic crisis have taken a toll on the military's combat readiness.

The American military presence in the region is only a fraction of the size, around 15,000 men, but

it boasts some of the most advanced military hardware, including the USS Gerald R.

Ford aircraft carrier and the F35 combat aircraft.

Venezuela's government has maintained stability in recent years by installing military officials in key governmental positions and expanded its militia system to help protect the country from foreign forces.

The US has been carrying out attacks on alleged drug smuggling boats since September.

Washington accuses Venezuela's military of playing an active role in trafficking, something the country's military leaders deny.

Let's take a closer look at that with Jesus Renzulo.

He's a research fellow at the Giga Institute for Latin America Studies.

Before the US raid, the Venezuelan armed forces were described as deeply entrenched in the socialist regime.

How has the role of the Venezuelan military evolved after Maduro's capture?

Is it loyal to the regime or to the country?

It's a really good question because it is important to know that the Venezuelan military is not the typical military on the names of Huntington.

This idea of a state loyal military, but it's more of an ideological or regime based loyal military.

This has been the case since the crackdown of 2002 when Chavez was coup and he restructured the military to become more loyal to the party, to the Pesawe.

Now, whether the armed forces are loyal to the country or to the party, I would argue they're closer and more loyal to the party, but

not for the reasons of ideological loyalty or legitimacy loyalty but more of a combination of corruption and threats from the intelligence service and from the same clique that puts a strong eye and a strong surveillance on them.

So they are deeply entrenched in this corrupt system.

But how does the military now navigate between supporting the interim government, which essentially is the former regime, and

Well, the main point here is that they are loyal to the clique.

And therefore, if the clique allows a more entrenched relation with the United States, they are probably going to go into that.

We need to take into account that not everyone in the Venezuelan clique controls the military.

Each member of the clique tends to control different aspects of the country.

And in this case, the military is more loyal to Vladimir Padrin Lopez, the Ministry of Defense.

So if he says that, yes, now we are collaborating with the Americans, this is more likely to be the case.

Now let's talk about the colectivos, the paramilitary groups.

How do they play into this whole power structure and how do they interact with the normal military?

Well, they play a clear role in maintaining control for the Venezuelan elite into the country.

The colectivos are heavily involved in the urban repression because they are mainly in the popular zone, what we call the popular zones, which are the poorest zones in Venezuela, particularly in the cities, and

they make sure that there are no protests nor backlash against the government, and

The colectivos, since they are a paramilitary system and they are not under the control of the Ministry of Defense, they are not in great relationships with the military because they are entrenching and they are over stepping into what the military power would be, particularly the National Guard.

So there are tensions between the different security systems in Venezuela, but

there is a necessary collaboration on the idea of regime survival.

Could the collectivos become a problem should the regime that remains choose to cooperate with the Americans?

It would become a problem if the people that controls them decides to rebel against whichever government ends up right now, one of the reasons why Del C.

Rodriguez, the former vice president and current president interim of Venezuela, was chosen by the American government was because they knew that the different factions, the clique of the government, would be able to control the colectivos.

This is normally expected to be controlled by the Ministry of Interior and justice, the current leader, Osdado Cabello.

So if there is a fragmentation or a breaking in the Venezuelan clique, let's say the Osado Cabello rebels, that could become a problem if they have, if he has enough control of the collectivus.

A research fellow the Giga Institute for Latin America Studies.