Colombia's military is not prepared for a possible attack by neighboring country Venezuela, a classified government report leaked to newscast CM& says.
According to the report, Colombia does not have the military capacity to defend itself if its neighbor decides to attack.
The two countries' relationship is under a lot of pressure following a U.S.-Colombian deal that allows the American armed forces to use Colombian military bases and airports to fight drug trafficking. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the plan a threat to Venzuelan sovereignty and ordered his countrymen to prepare for war, while increasing the number of troops near the Colombian border.
If Chavez decides to attack, Colombia "unfortunately" does not have the anti-tank capacity, especially in the flat and relatively accessible north of the country to deter a ground attack.
According to the report, Venezuela has concentrated its tank capacity in the northern part of the border region, where, in the case of an attack, a Venezuelan offensive would take place.
Colombia's Defense Ministry admits its ports on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts are "highly vulnerable."
"The Navy does not have air defense installations in these ... ports," the report says.
Following Chavez's war talk, Colombia deployed some 69,000 troops near the Venezuelan border, the report stresses.
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Comments (14)
oblate
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... This so called BS report is nothing but pure crap. If Venezuela attacked Colombia Venezuela could not last more than 24 hours. Americans learned that lesson in Vietnam. In the jungle tanks are extremely vulnerable and prone to continuous breakdowns. In the case of Venezuela their biggest problem is that their military especially the frontline troops have no recent combat experience. The problem that Colombian soldiers would have with Venezuela are the leg injuries because of all the sprained ankles they would get from tripping over the weapons the Venezuelan soldiers dropped as they were running away. As a former military person I will take experience of my troops over technology any day any way. |
Oibrigade
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... I agree Oblate, however the Colombian Military soldiers have even less then what you might think. I mean they literally carry a gun and thats it. We have no strong officers, our Generals only worry about defending cocaine shipments they protect. We don't know how to fight a real war. Our soldiers would not stand in the face of tanks, it would be mass retreating. Their air attack would wipe out any defense we could muster up. And with the way the US Military being extremely thin, we would not recieve any help from the US other then consulting. |
Adriaan
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... @ Oblate, I wouldn't be so quick in dismissing the report. CM& is a well-respected news-outlet. If the report is real (and my guess is that it is or I wouldn't have put it here) it is a report by the Defense Ministry itself. The vulnerable region that is talked about is La Guajira in the north. This part is desert, not jungle. |
oblate
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... First, the Colombian soldiers have more than just a rifle. Second, let me go back to what I said about experience. Colombians have it and Venezuelans do not. In real combat, Venezuelans would implode in less than one day. A few tanks will not make a difference. And in reference to the tanks in the desert...that is much worse than the jungle. I was in Vietnam, & Gulf War 1. 40% of the tanks at any one time were not serviceable. The desert is worse than the jungle. One of the other big problems facing Venezuela in a war with Colombia are supply lines. If you do not have good reliable supply lines that can be defended and resupplied quickly you are a dead man. The soldiers will not have fuel, food, medical, new weapons, shelter, or spare parts. Nope…the Colombians would have a field day with Hugo’s boys. Unless you have been in real time combat you need to be real careful about the comments you make. Remember, there are a bunch of Colombians at this minute fighting in Afghanistan…why? Because they know what they are doing and they are damn good soldiers. Much better than our northern neighbors. |
oblate
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... I don't know who CM is or on what basis they developed their analysis. I have seen how the Colombian military operates and it is very impressive. They are motivated, well equipped and well trained soldiers. I have lived in Colombia for 3 1/2 years and I have never heard of the Venezuelan military engaged in a combat operation. But, at the end of the day, don't worry because Venezuela will never attack Colombia...never. They would lose all of their allies in seconds. The OAS would throw them out of the organization and the useless UN would put so many sanctions on Venezuela they would choke to death. Nope...this is all bluster from Hugo and nothing more. He wants confrontation and needs it to stay in power. |
Adriaan
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... @ Oblate, I don't disagree with you about the Venezuelan military but with the Colombian military already involved in fighting domestic armed groups and being deployed to fight urban gang wars, don't you think a third front could seriously weaken its strength on all three and could even make them suffer serious losses on all three? I mean, in your average off-duty pissing contest I would put all my money on a Colombian soldier, but the Colombian military is already performing at its best to beat the guerrilla, drug gangs and urban gangs. You can't just think they would be able to take on the army of an other nation on the side. Most of the Colombian soldiers already are involved in combat, they can't be at two places at the same time and you can't just open a can of fresh, well-trained soldiers. Let me know what you think |
Mitch Sheppard
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... Venezuela attacking Colombia...God I dont know where to start. That would take planning and organization. I have never seen evidence of that in Venezuela. I mean they cant raise there own food run there oil fields produce electiricity or provide security from the thugs running in the streets. Now does anyone think a general in the Chavez army would risk their lives for one second or miss a weekend from drinking rum and chasing women to fight a war? They would have Hugo shot before that would ever happen. Owning tanks and keeping them running are two different things. Hugo army would not be able to keep a moving army supplied (fuel food etc.) much less and army with tanks. That takes planning and organization, something Hugo is in capable of. One more thing say he got the tanks assembled on the border and started moving across the border in the desert. Would they be open targets for the USAF? It would be a slaugther..But with Obama as our President who knows what that idiot would do. |
Bluebird
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... I think that while obama would be reluctant to fire on his socialist brethern he would have no choice in the event that hugo went completely crazy and invaded Colombia. It would take the U.S no longer to chase hugo out of Colombia than it did to chase saddam out of kuwait. |
oblate
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... Adriaan, I hear what you are saying but, all aside that does not mean the Colombian army is not ready and more than capable to take on Venezuelan military. Granted the Colombians may be vulnerable on the coastal front but, on the ground and in the air there is simply no comparison. Military training is more than a classroom here and there and a couple of videos. It is months and months of hands on exercises. Colombia's air power would eliminate Venezuelan tanks in no time at all. Actually, Chavez would not even commit his tanks in early fighting. He would wait and see if the ground force can make advances. If they cannot the tanks would not be deployed...if they do only a limited number of tanks would be deployed not all. Remember, Chavez can't go any faster than his supply lines can move. This happened to the Germans in WW 2 in Africa. more... |
oblate
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... Colombia would make the tank issue out of play and just go around them. Venezuela has to attack Colombia and then get back to Venezuela…not gonna happen. In the air, Colombia is far superior than Venezuela in all respects. They have recent combat experience in both passive and evasive maneuvers. Again, Chavez would be reluctant to put all of his air in play unless he is winning steadily…and again he has to get the air power to the theater and then get them home again…not gonna happen. There has been a lot of talk about Chavez attacking Colombia but, do you think for a second that Colombia is going to sit around drinking beer and that aguardiente crap and watch the war on TV? Nope…Colombia will hit Caracas hard and often. Within hours, the refineries, trains, planes, and boats will all be a memory. That is why Chavez can’t deploy all of his military strength. Without the refineries he will be out there pickin shit with the chickens. I would take issue of the credibility of the efficacy of CM’s analysis. If Venezuela attacks Colombia at say 8 am, then by noon it will be over and done with and Chubby will be on TV saying how he won the war or how the U.S. attacked Venezuela when Chavez wasn’t looking…sniff! Also, Russia will have some say in all of this and they won’t want their for sale products blown to pieces in a matter of minutes. |
Quorthon
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... If Venezuela were to attack Colombia they would start with an airstrike to Colombia's strategic assets (refineries, ports, airports, millitary bases, etc.) which would most likely go unanswered in face of the Venezuelan air superiority (Venezuela: 24 Sukhoi 30mkII+ 6 to 10 F-16 vs. Colombia: 24 Kfir C-10/C-7). Colombian ground forces and close air support superiority would be compensated by Venezuelan air superiority. This would be followed by a short ground invasion of northern Colombian Guajira peninsula, and then by an exhaustion war, in which Colombia would drain Venezuelan forces out of men and resources. It's an unpredictable scenario. |
oblate
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... Quorthon, good assessment but, Venezuelan has no air superiority. I have said over again that Venezuela has little or no combat experience compared to Colombia's experience regardless of where that experience was derived. Look, Venezuela's planes would have to take off and enter Colombian air space at which point the cat is out of the bag. The, if they are lucky, they would have to be able to get back to Venezuela unharmed...not gonna happen. Having more air planes does not mean air superiority, it only means they have more planes to equip and maintain. The question I have is when the Venezuela air force sees what they have to look forward to where do they plan to land there planes? Ecuador maybe? One more thing...I have seen the Colombian air force and other military operate...they do not let anything go unanswered...anything. Anything that is written or said about the strength of Venezuelans military is all bluster. If you read Jane's you will see that the Venezuelan air force has "few air-worthy” planes. No F-16's since the U.S. pulled out and the Russian planes need revamps and tech maint. training as well as pilot training. Unlike Colombia. The Venezuelan Air Force will not be battle ready until sometime around 2025 according Janes and some other military magazines. |
nope
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... Everybody's talking about which country has more capabilities, but there's something important missing from the discussion: Colombia do not offer targets that could be identified as "military". Any attack by Venezuela would have to be against civilian installations, and as such would not be tolerated by any country in the western hemisphere (except one or two on Chavez' payroll). Also, any damages to infrastructure would have to be paid in full by Venezuela. |
oblate
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... nope, you raise an excellent point. But be careful here becasue there are a lot of contries and factions who use civilians as shields such as Palstine for one. |
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