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Special Report - The military as police: a balance sheet (ISSN 17414474)
Almost complete militarisation
Venezuela still has a civilian national police force nominally charged with maintaining and restoring public order, the force that takes the lead in this area is the Guardia Nacional Bolivariana (GNB: National Guard). In the past a paramilitary police force devoted mainly to policing the borders and rural areas, it is now formally the fourth service of the national armed forces (FANB). It is defined as ‘the principal security force’ and its mission as ‘ensuring the maintenance of internal order and the defence of the democratic exercise of the people’s will [and] contributing with the national, state and municipal to preserve or restore internal order in face of grave social perturbance, upon the decision of the Head of State.’ By law the FANB as a whole is empowered to act as administrative police and conduct penal investigations in special circumstances.
- Executive summary
- Under Peña Nieto the military remain in the field
- Extensive use of the military on two fronts
- More troops deployed as violence rebounds after ‘truce’
- Level of violence declines but is still high
- New special units to bolster mass troop deployment
- President gets free hand to deploy military
- One state of emergency after another
- Relying on Carabineros to face two threats
- Military kept out of internal security
- Almost complete militarisation
- Allowing ‘preventive’ use of armed forces
- Trying to assess effects