The Venezuelan Army (VZA) is the armed land force of Venezuela, consisting of 120,000 troops in 2010. It was considered to be founded on 19 April 1810 at the start of the South American Wars of Liberation against Spain, and it fought in the war of independence against Spain, the several wars between the newly-independent Latin American countries in the 19th century, and the Federal War of 1859-1863.
History[]
The Venezuelan Army was founded on 19 April 1810 when Venezuela declared its independence from Spain during the South American Wars of Liberation, and the armed forces of Venezuela (New Granada, then a part of Gran Colombia) were led by Simon Bolivar to victory against Spain at the Battle of Carabobo and other great victories. Venezuela seized its independence in 1826 when the Spanish and royalists evacuated, and Venezuela later left Gran Colombia to be its own nation. It fought in the various minor border wars with other recently-independent countries of Latin America, not fighting in any major wars until the Federal War civil war of 1859-1863.
In 2010, Venezuela underwent an uprising by the military under General Carlos Carmona that placed Ramon Solano in power as President of Venezuela, and the VZA was transformed into a trained regular army. The VZA was equipped with Russian-made weapons such as the AK-47, RPGs, and RPKs while also owning vehicles ranging from Capuchin Guntrucks and Iguana cruisers to Jaguars and Armadillo APCs. The VZA troops wore yellow and brown camouflage and black berets, with mininum body armor. The army was at times supplemented by Venezuelan gangsters linked to Solano and his former drug cartel, and the military fought against the rebel People's Liberation Army of Venezuela (PLAV), Universal Petroleum (UP) oil company, the Allied Nations (AN) alliance, and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, while they occasionally did business with the Rastafarian Pirates. The VZA had a large army, several vehicles, a fleet of helicopters and planes, and a navy of ships in the Caribbean Sea. The Venezuelans were incapacitated by the capture of Carmona, Solano, and several high-value targets (HVTs). Nilsson assisted the Allies in defeating the Venezuelans, and Solano was killed when his helicopter crashed in a failed escape from Angel Falls. The Venezuelan Army continued to oppose the occupying countries despite being leaderless, and they fought in battles against the mercenary and the PLAV as they fought for control of the country. However, they were weak, and the main war was between China and the AN.