As tensions with the Trump administration continue to rise, Venezuela’s military is actively promoting nationwide preparations to counter a possible U.S. attack on social media.
Experts say the new show of force, including low-flying fighter jets over major cities and live-fire drills off the coast, is aimed at drawing new attention to military capabilities.
CNN analyzed Venezuelan military footage, verified social media videos and other open source data since early September to examine how President Nicolás Maduro’s regime is wielding its relatively modest military power in its conflict with the United States.
Venezuela’s preparations were greeted with demonstrations of U.S. air and naval power in the Caribbean, including Thursday’s “strike demonstration” featuring aircraft including reconnaissance planes, attack planes and bombers.
Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN: “The United States clearly has the upper hand. It’s not surprising.” “But we must not be cavalier.” He stressed that no one should underestimate Venezuela’s capabilities.
Berg believes this could become an existential battle for Maduro’s regime if it is outnumbered in the Caribbean – and it is clear that Venezuela is preparing for all possibilities.
Caracas is being aggressively fortified with new layers of defense, with the most notable developments occurring on the outskirts of the capital and near Venezuela’s northern coastline.
A series of concrete anti-vehicle “hedgehog” barriers have been extended along the Caracas-La Guaira highway, an important route connecting Caracas with the Caribbean coastline.
Venezuelan authorities posted footage taken from a highway on October 9 and seen by CNN that shows dozens of concrete “hedgehog” obstacles next to heavy equipment emblazoned with military logos.
Although the exact date they were installed remains unknown, recent satellite images show these obstacles are strategically placed near critical choke points where armored vehicles must slow down. Their locations are no coincidence. Experts say this narrow corridor is the only viable land route for invading forces to reach the capital.
In a speech broadcast on state network VTV on Wednesday, President Maduro unveiled a “comprehensive defense plan” for Caracas and La Guaira, outlining where weapons and systems could be deployed along the corridor, “street by street, community by community…”
State-of-the-art U.S. fighter jets and drones have arrived in the Caribbean, putting Maduro’s military on full display of its air defense capabilities.
Last week, footage released by Venezuelan military units showed a Russian P-18-2M mobile air defense system, a P-18-2M early warning radar used to detect incoming aircraft and ammunition, located at a military base on Margarita Island, east of Caracas.
Other systems, including the medium-range Buk-M2E, were also shown off during air defense exercises at military facilities in the capital. The Venezuelan National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) has nearly a dozen other military aircraft, all of which are Russian-made, according to CSIS statistics.
Such anti-aircraft platforms are essential to protecting Venezuela’s airspace, but experts have questioned the status of some of them. Seemingly trying to allay concerns, one FANB unit released footage of soldiers scrubbing short-range Pechora S-125 anti-aircraft systems with soap and water.
But questions remain about the combat readiness of other platforms, such as the S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system that Venezuela purchased several years ago, but have not featured prominently in government media or training in recent weeks.
The developments come just weeks after a mysterious plane, authorized to transport cargo to Russia’s allies, which is blacklisted by the United States, landed in the capital.
It is still unclear what was transported, but in an interview with Gazeta.ru, Russian Duma member Alexei Zhuravlev claimed that new Pantsir-S1 and Buk-M2E air defense systems were transported to Caracas. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Mark Cancian told CNN that the delivery could also include advanced missiles that would specifically strengthen Venezuela’s air defenses.
CNN has contacted Venezuela’s Ministry of Defense about the flight.
Live fire training and troop movement
At the Venezuelan Military Academy in southern Caracas, footage released by the Venezuelan military shows military members practicing small drone attacks with the help of a popular video game. “The second in command destroyed it…” one of the soldiers says, swarming the cadet with the controller. “We are here waiting for progress, please come closer!”
Venezuelan soldiers are training in makeshift simulators in a broader effort to increase readiness across the country.
In another simulated battlefield, footage shared by a FANB commander shows Venezuelan forces conducting live-fire training near an uninhabited island less than 40 miles from where U.S. warships recently anchored in Trinidad and Tobago.
A national enlistment campaign began in August, with President Maduro calling for volunteers to join Bolivarian militias to strengthen the country’s defenses. The militia, a reserve force made up of civilians, is a branch of the Venezuelan national army.
The traditional army numbers about 123,000 soldiers, but Maduro claims he has increased the number of volunteers to 8 million, but experts have questioned their numbers and the quality of military training.
Far from ammunition testing sites and training facilities, Venezuelan civilians watch the Maduro government’s show of air power.
In downtown Maracay, one of Venezuela’s largest cities, pedestrians looked up to see F-16 fighter jets roaring over museums and shopping centers. And on luxurious Margarita Island, a Russian Su-30 fighter jet passed overhead.
The seven fighter jets seen here account for about 20% of Venezuela’s fighter jet fleet, according to data released by CSIS. With no spare parts or scheduled maintenance available, “we are using valuable flight time to demonstrate (Venezuela’s air power),” Berg explained.
The country’s air force is small, and most of its airborne attack aircraft are Russian-made Su-30 fighters, including F-16 and F-5 fighters purchased from the United States decades ago, and it could face a formidable American presence in the Caribbean.
