In Venezuela, the issue of civil-military relations has traditionally been very controversial. The origin of the controversy is complex, but basically it is about the historical problem related to the political significance that the military have played in the conformation of the State and the place they should occupy in Venezuelan society. But, fundamentally, the Venezuelan civilian political leadership did not have, nor has it had until now, the capacity, the interest, the political will and clarity, conceptual consistency and doctrinal conviction, and even the need to implement a set of mechanisms and techniques to exercise an effective civilian control over the historical praetorian potential of the Venezuelan military. Thus, it can be affirmed that in the matter of Venezuelan civil-military relations, after the failure of the ruling praetorianism of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, we have not had a real and true civilian control over the military. On the contrary, what we have had is an understanding, agreement, fusion, alliance and military-civilian and political-military symbiosis; not written, but operative and effective. After several centuries of barbarism, backwardness and uncivilization, the 21st century may be for Venezuela the century of the definitive defeat of the praetorianism virus and the final supremacy of the Venezuelan civil society over the military and its armed institutions.
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This paper analyzes the process of integration designed by the Presidents of the Republic of Cuba and Venezuela, based on the doctrinaire socialist ideology of the two leaders, through the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, aimed at promoting and fomenting the progress of their respective economies and obtaining reciprocal advantages, and of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which agreement expands on and modifies the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement. It constitutes an alliance whose purpose is to establish Latin American-Caribbean leadership through international cooperation in various sectors, and to change the correlation of international forces, establishing a multipolar world and creating a new international political order in which the interest of the people prevails. With this purpose in mind, the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean and their position as a swing vote in international decision-making, which will make them sovereign in their decisions and masters of their own fate, is being sought. In addition, substituting products from the region for products from outside countries, and the use of petroleum as a negotiating tool, is proposed.
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The explicit objective of this work is to make some contributions toward assessing the current situation, and taking a look at the future, of the MERCOSUR, with regard to Defense, based on an historical-theoretical and practical development, starting from the premise that shows that the strengthening of cooperative action, with a view toward developing an integrated Defense system in the region, would be the most appropriate response to the challenges that have been posed in the field of International Security.
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Like other countries in Latin America, Venezuela received the principles of the National Security Doctrine that developed during the Cold War period. This doctrine has profound repercussions on the definition of the country's national interests and its security profile. Consequently, concepts such as territoriality, sovereignty, the internal and/or external enemy and the development of the nation have guided the policies adopted by Venezuela's military and political actors in matters of security and defense over the last fifty years. However, the presidency of Hugo Chavez Frias since 1999, has implemented the Bolivarian Revolution, which includes a re-evaluation of the traditional conception of security. It is, therefore, imperative to study and analyze the components of the new geopolitical and geo-economic vision of his political project, which includes redefining strategic objectives to respond to ongoing and new national interests, establishing new civilian-military relations, the need to create a new National Armed Forces, the goal of putting aside old doctrines that are not indigenous to the country and adopting security reforms.
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There is a new civil-military pragmatism in the region defined by armies that engage in internal, role expansive missions at the behest of democratically elected officials. In the past, the armed forces would exploit such missions for their own political gain, while revising doctrines to make role expansion a permanent feature of military orientation. Instead, today’s armies have undertaken missions for purposes of helping civilian leaders fill vacuums and resolve specific problems that could not otherwise have been adequately dealt with. Military cooperation in this regard is dutiful but not altruistic; the military’s objective is to parlay these ventures into a justification for greater defense budget shares, salaries, and equipment. But role expansion is not inherently threatening to civilian control so long as soldiers remain decision-takers not makers. This they have, as brief case studies of Argentina and Venezuela make clear.
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