The National Militia, created by law, is part of the civic-military union in Venezuela.

247, with AVN - During the popular demonstrations held in recent weeks in Venezuela in support of President Nicolás Maduro, images of the presence of a civic-military contingent officially called the Bolivarian National Militia circulated around the world. The battalions, organized and under military command, and governed by the laws, as an integral part of the country's Armed Forces, were also mobilized to help the Venezuelan army and the National Guard disperse the United States' attempt to illegally force the entry of "humanitarian aid" last Saturday (23). An article from the Venezuelan News Agency explains what the Bolivarian National Militias are.

The idea of ​​a leading role in the civic-military union in Venezuela has its origins linked to the first action of Chavismo, on February 4, 1992, when Hugo Chávez led a civic-military uprising, a prelude to what would be designated years later as the Bolivarian Revolution.

The Bolivarian National Militia was created in 2008 by presidential decree, in accordance with the Organic Law of the Armed Forces.

"We need to put an end to the old model of reserve battalions. The Militia must be the people in arms, and that is an absolutely revolutionary mission," said then-President Hugo Chávez in 2009 regarding the militia corps.

Young people, students, teachers, fishermen, indigenous communities, the people represented in every corner of the country began to organize themselves into this armed body, also developing activities in the economic, productive and social development processes of the country.

According to the law, this component aims to establish permanent ties between the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Venezuelan people.

The legal text details that the military must contribute to the Strategic Operational Command in the elaboration and execution of the nation's comprehensive defense and national mobilization plans, in addition to participating in and contributing to the development of military technology and industry, without limitations beyond those provided for in the Constitution of the Republic.

Another of its responsibilities is to process and disseminate information, consolidating itself in community councils, public and private sector institutions, for the elaboration of plans, programs and projects for the integral development of the nation, this body being composed of thousands of people with the support of the government in the construction of new models of popular governance.

Since its inception, this civic-military body has gathered more than 1,6 million militiamen, stated the Commander-in-Chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, President Nicolás Maduro, last December. In a speech before military commanders on the same day as his inauguration on January 10th, he announced an increase in this contingent to two million.