Force Structures

The president is commander in chief of the armed forces, which consist of four independent and equal services: the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and a paramilitary police force colloquially known as the National Guard (officially, the Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperación), which has full co-equal status with the other branches. In 2009, the Bolivarian Militia was established as an independent corps that also falls under the purview of the armed forces. Under the 1999 Constitution, the...