page_title: Cape Verdean Armed Forces
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cape Verdean Armed Forces / History
context_page_description: The Cape Verdean Armed Forces, Cabo Verdean Armed Forces or FACV are the military of Cape Verde. They include two branches, the National Guard and the Coast Guard.
context_section_description: Before 1975, Cape Verde was an overseas province of Portugal, having a small Portuguese military garrison that included both Cape Verdean and European Portuguese soldiers.
  At the same time, some Cape Verdeans were serving in the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Revolucionarias do Povo, FARP), the military wing of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde that was fighting for the joint independence of Guinea and Cape Verde in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. The FARP became the national armed forces of Guinea-Bissau when its independence was recognized by Portugal in 1974.
  The Armed Forces of Cape Verde were created when the country became independent in 1975, being also officially designated the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Revolucionarias do Povo, FARP). The Cape Verdean FARP consisted of two independent branches, the Army (Exército) and the Coast Guard (Guarda Costeira).
  In the early 1990s, the designation "FARP" was dropped and the military of Cape Verde started to be designated the Cape Verdean Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Cabo Verdeanas, FACV).
  In 2007, the FACV started a major reorganization that included the transformation of the Army into the National Guard (Guarda Nacional).
  Together with the Cape Verdean Police, the FACV carried out Operation Flying Launch (Operacão Lancha Voadora), a successful operation to put an end to a drug trafficking group which smuggled cocaine from Colombia to the Netherlands and Germany using Cape Verde as a reorder point. The operation took more than three years, being a secret operation during the first two years, and ended in 2010.
  Although located in Africa, Cape Verde had always close relations with Europe. Because of this, it has been argued that Cape Verde may be eligible for entry into the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO.
  The most recent engagement of the FACV was the Monte Tchota massacre that resulted in 11 deaths.
caption: Cape Verdean Marines
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