page_title: National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela
section_title: National Guard
hierarchical_section_title: National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela / Service branches / Main branches / National Guard
caption_attribution_description: English: NORINCO VN-4 4x4 in Caracas, Venezuela on 5 March 2014 during the commemoration of Hugo Chavez's death.
context_page_description: The National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the army, navy, and air force there is also a national guard and national militia primarily focused on internal security.
  The armed forces primary purpose is to defend Venezuelan territory from attack, combat drug trafficking, provide search and rescue capabilities, aid the civilian population in case of natural disasters protection, as well as numerous internal security assignments. As of 2018, the armed forces had 123,000 active personnel and 8,000 reservists.
context_section_description: The National Guard of Venezuela (Fuerzas Armadas de Cooperacion or Guardia Nacional), according to the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a military corps with police functions. With roughly 70,000 troops, its organized into 9 regional commands (division size) and 24 state level zone commands (brigade sized), with plans to expand that number to fifteen commands. Additionally, there is the Coastal Surveillance Command, the Air Support Command, the Corps of Engineers, the Logistics Support Command, the National Guard Command School and the National Guard Academy and the various other institutions under its Education Command. It is planned to structure the National Guard in divisions, under the command of the Territorial Commands. In 2007, the National Guard was renamed as the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela, and was expanded even further to include the People's Guards Command in 2011 and the Anti-extortion and Sequestration Command in 2013, with a Social Action Division in the planning stage as of present. The Commanding General of the National Guard is Major General Nestor Luis Reverol Torres.
caption: VN-4 of the Venezuelan National Guard.
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