A man walks past a poster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and an anti-tank barricade in Caracas, on October 28, 2025. Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Venezuela is preparing to face a possible US attack with a military that has suffered a quarter-century of decay under its repressive revolutionary socialist government, experts say.
As a flotilla of US warships sinks alleged drug boats and president Donald Trump threatens land strikes, authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro has wielded a bow and arrow and paraded troops through Caracas.
But after a wave of desertions and decades focused on internal dissent rather than national defence, his military is far from ready for serious conflict, according to analysts, opposition figures and former US officials.
“The entire Venezuelan intelligence system is focused on internal threats,” said Julio Borges, a veteran opposition figure in exile in Spain. He estimates total operational readiness at “30 to 40 per cent at most”.
Although officially part of a counter-narcotics operation, the flotilla’s size — includ
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