Venezuela Has Begun Distributing Old Russian Weapons To Its Citizens

For guerrilla warfare against the United States.

Venezuela's military has begun training units for guerrilla warfare in the event of an armed operation by U.S. forces in the country. People are being given weapons, but they are in short supply, even for regular forces, and are often decades old, Reuters reported, citing sources with knowledge of the effort and planning documents seen by the agency.

Venezuela bought about 20 Su fighter jets from Russia in the 2000s, but "next to the U.S. B-2s, they are nothing," a person briefed on the defense and security situation told Reuters. Russian-made helicopters, tanks and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) are also obsolete, he added. Nicolas Maduro, who remains in office as Venezuela's president after apparently losing an election in 2024, has asked Moscow to repair Su fighter jets, modernize radar systems and supply missile systems. Russia's Foreign Ministry said last week that it was ready to respond to Caracas' request for help.

The Donald Trump administration, which is beefing up its military grouping in the Caribbean Sea, has prepared three options for action against the Maduro regime. So far, U.S. ships have fired on vessels that Washington says are carrying drugs out of Venezuela - with Maduro and his White House cronies seen as co-organizers of the drug trade. But Trump has already said "there will be a ground operation next," though he later denied the possibility of strikes inside Venezuela. Nevertheless, according to The New York Times, Washington is considering options ranging from airstrikes on military installations to special forces operations to capture Maduro or seize airfields, oil fields, and infrastructure facilities.

More than a dozen dated 2012-2022 Venezuelan military documents seen by Reuters show that the country's authorities have long been planning measures to combat "imperialist aggression." One of them, dated September 2019, details how to place machine guns, grenade launchers and other weapons, explains the characteristics of the Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifle and explains how single combatants should navigate by compass, sun and stars.

Partisan warfare, according to Reuters sources and some statements aired on state television, involves small units carrying out sabotage in more than 280 locations. The second strategy, called "anarchization," involves using intelligence services and armed supporters of the ruling party to create unrest in the streets of Caracas and turn Venezuela into a country that foreign forces will not be able to rule.

According to prepared orders, in a "first gringo strike, all units must disperse or retreat with weapons in different directions or take cover in different locations," including using Russian Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems. "Any army in the world knows the power of the Igla-S, and Venezuela has at least 5,000 of them," Maduro said during a recent televised speech. He said the Needles are deployed "on every mountain, in every village, every city in the country's territory."

All of this indicates that the colossal devastation in Venezuela, which Maduro has ruled since 2013, has also affected the army's combat capabilities. The U.S. armed forces are vastly outnumbered by Venezuelan forces, which suffer from poor training, low wages and old weapons, six people familiar with the situation in the army told Reuters. A source close to the government acknowledged that any resistance strategy has little chance of success: "In a conventional war, we wouldn't last two hours."

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