Maduro enthrones terror regime
The constitutional president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, apparently wants to compete with the United States or at least to scare the armed forces of that country since he has announced an expansion of the Venezuelan militias to one million members, an undoubtedly bravado act: to show military power to his neighbors and Donald Trump. This is also a form of intimidation in the face of the forthcoming presidential elections on May that will take place in that country and that have been the bone of contention between the opposition and the ruling party. Last year, Maduro tried to increase the militias from 100,000 to 500,000 members, but their numbers were far below.
The Venezuelan militias are made up of armed civilians, a kind of military organization that closely resembles the concept of their Cuban "partners" whose people joins to the regular forces. Commander Fidel Castro named this form of struggle "people's war doctrine ", in which the people by Constitution are obliged to defend the country. So the military forces against any aggression would increase to millions.
During a military-political parade, Nicolás Maduro hinted his clear imitation of the Cuban dictatorship by saying that he wanted the body of armed civilians to "continue playing a decisive role in strengthening the military defense concept and guaranteeing peace in the country." Currently, some 400,000 members of that military force are estimated.
Luis Salamanca, a political analyst, believes that Maduro is creating his "personal praetorian guard" to "get rearmed in any event ... either social or military uprisings". Whether is a Praetorian guard or not, the fact is that the strengthening of that armed wing creates more uncertainty in the nation and, in addition, it could lead to a deep civil war or at least intense internal confrontations because followers and detractors of Maduro would carry out a fierce battle for defending their positions. With the announcement of the civil militias’ increase, Maduro denotes the militarization of his country and his interest in creating a regime of terror.
The civil militias were engendered by Hugo Chávez in 2007; its members are retired or unemployed elderly people, housewives and peasants who faithfully support the government. Among the missions entrusted to them, there is the custody of hospitals, polling stations and markets; as well as the performance of official parades.
Curiously, President Nicolás Maduro has not bothered to strengthen his army of almost 200,000 soldiers. Among the many reasons that may be weighing the decision to give more support to the militias than to the army is he knows about the discontent among the army members. This fact can take its toll from one moment on. According to El Nuevo Herald reports, several officers were arrested on charges of promoting conspiracy against the government. On the other hand, voluntary withdrawals and desertions have also increased.
Since Chávez's time, a way that the ruling party has had to calm the armed forces has been to increase the salaries of the military hierarchy in order to achieve their loyalty. When the elections are close, the armed forces will continue to be the main force of repression with which Maduro will count on. The United States, the European Union and several governments of the region have already announced that they will not see as authentic the results.