Venezuela’s impoverished military plots ‘guerilla resistance’ to Trump threat of invasion

Venezuela is reportedly preparing for a war with the United States, as boats continue to be blown up in international waters, and draft plans for military action are being made by the United States.

The country is gearing up for US military action by readying old Russian-made weapons and developing plans for irregular, guerrilla-style warfare aimed at disrupting or resisting an invasion, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

President Trump has mentioned the chance of operations on the ground in the country, saying several times in response to reporters that ‘the land is going to be next,’ after targeted strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

There was, however, some mixed messaging, as he later said there wouldn’t be any strikes in Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has led the country since 2013, claims Trump is trying to oust him from office and insists that both the Venezuelan people and the armed forces will oppose any effort to do so.

Sources familiar with the matter say Venezuela’s strategy reveals an important fact: an implicit acknowledgment of the country’s insufficient troop numbers and outdated military equipment.

Reports of the country’s weakness go even further. Six people familiar with the country’s military told Reuters that its armed forces are completely outmatched by those of the United States.

Couple that with poor training, bad pay, aging equipment and a lack of resources.

Maduro has maintained firm support from the armed forces by continuing Hugo Chávez’s approach of appointing military officers to key government positions and leadership roles – securing their loyalty

Sources familiar with the matter say Venezuela’s strategy reveals an important fact: an implicit acknowledgment of the country’s insufficient troop numbers and outdated military equipment

Venezuela is reportedly preparing for a war with the United States, as boats continue to be blown up off in international waters, and rumors of draft plans are being made by the United States

A drone view shows the US Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg docked in Puerto Rico

Some commanders have had to strike deals with local food suppliers to sustain their soldiers due to insufficient government provision, two sources with insight into the nation’s security forces have said.

Sources say there could be desertion from soldiers in the event of an attack – and that there are two main strategies at play.

The first is a guerrilla-style defense that the Venezuelan government has nicknamed ‘prolonged resistance’ and mentioned in broadcasts on state television. That would involve small military units at more than 280 locations carrying out guerrilla methods, according to several years-old planning documents seen by Reuters.

Guerrilla resistance means small groups of fighters using surprise attacks and quick movements to fight a larger, more powerful enemy

A source involved in defense planning and another close to the opposition say the second plan, called ‘anarchization,’ would have intelligence agents and armed supporters of the ruling party stir up chaos in Caracas to make the country too chaotic for foreign forces to control.

It is unclear when the government could implement any of these strategies, but sources indicate that they are preemptive, albeit a long shot from actually being successful.

‘We’re not ready to face one of the world’s most powerful and well-trained armies,’ the source said.

Maduro has maintained firm support from the armed forces by continuing Hugo Chávez’s approach of appointing military officers to key government positions and leadership roles – securing their loyalty.

The military’s top brass endorsed Maduro’s 2024 election win, even though extensive evidence has shown that the election was rigged and that the opposition candidate had clearly come out ahead.

The communications ministry in Venezuela did not respond to questions regarding the story.