Venezuela still has to somehow manage an invasion through apparently underdeveloped jungle and wilderness.
Back when things were slightly less fucked up and there was a big ol border controversy with Colombia, Maduro threatened Colombia by stating he would deploy his armored military forces to the Colombian border. There were rumors that his military was wheezing with incompetence to try and do just that and when the US Diplomatic Cables leak occurred it publicized several US diplomatic cables talking about what a trickle of armored vehicles that the Venezuelan military was trying to bring (via a well developed road network mind you) to said Colombian border.
Granted this was back in 2010. Maybe Maduro changed things for the better and the Venezuelan military actually improved in competency. From an Economist article back during that crisis it was said "Officers or former officers run 11 of the 32 ministries; 11 of the 23 state governors are retired officers. Mr Maduro has been a prolific producer of generals. On one day last year he promoted 195 officers to that rank, bringing their number to more than 2,000. The United States somehow gets by with no more than 900 generals."
I'll see if I can look up the cables again or a relevant article on it. But it happened over a decade ago... maybe its not relevant anymore.
Venezuela could attempt an amphibious invasion though, which means Guyana would need to invest in ice rated cruise ships or something to defend their maritime borders.
Oh and there's this article on Venezuela's regressive air defense capability.
Back when things were slightly less fucked up and there was a big ol border controversy with Colombia, Maduro threatened Colombia by stating he would deploy his armored military forces to the Colombian border. There were rumors that his military was wheezing with incompetence to try and do just that and when the US Diplomatic Cables leak occurred it publicized several US diplomatic cables talking about what a trickle of armored vehicles that the Venezuelan military was trying to bring (via a well developed road network mind you) to said Colombian border.
Granted this was back in 2010. Maybe Maduro changed things for the better and the Venezuelan military actually improved in competency. From an Economist article back during that crisis it was said "Officers or former officers run 11 of the 32 ministries; 11 of the 23 state governors are retired officers. Mr Maduro has been a prolific producer of generals. On one day last year he promoted 195 officers to that rank, bringing their number to more than 2,000. The United States somehow gets by with no more than 900 generals."
I'll see if I can look up the cables again or a relevant article on it. But it happened over a decade ago... maybe its not relevant anymore.
Venezuela could attempt an amphibious invasion though, which means Guyana would need to invest in ice rated cruise ships or something to defend their maritime borders.
Major Naval Confrontation!
Venezuelan Navy 0, Cruise Ship 1 Behold the competence and skill of the Venezuelan Navy! A fully armed warship was overpowered and defeated by a perfidious trap sprung by a cruise ship which cunningly tricked the warship into first firing upon and then ramming the civilian craft. Minor...
www.the-sietch.com
Oh and there's this article on Venezuela's regressive air defense capability.
Backwards Modernisation: Venezuela’s Israeli Barak-1 Air Defence Systems
www.oryxspioenkop.com