The Bolivarian Forces of Liberation ( FBL) is a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

organization operating in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. The group claims to fight against Venezuelan government for

Bolivarianism Bolivarianism is a mix of panhispanic, socialist and nationalist- patriotic ideals named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence ...

, a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, South American ideology. The group was formerly known as the Bolivarian Forces of Liberation – Liberation Army ( FBL-EL), but they have not attached the suffix to their name in recent years.

History

Following the

1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts The Venezuelan coup attempt of February 1992 was an attempt to seize control of the government of Venezuela by the Hugo Chávez-led Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) that took place on 4 February 1992.Uppsala Conflict Data Progr ...

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

and his co-conspirators, the FBL formed in 1992 as a left-wing nationalist militia to defend against potential entry of Colombian paramilitary brigades and "invasion by imperialist forces". Prior to the election of Hugo Chávez, it was alleged that the FBL had been involved with student movements, including Utopía, a leftist student movement that was led by Hugo Cabezas and

Tareck El Aissami Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (; born 12 November 1974) is a Venezuelan politician, who served as the vice president of Venezuela from 2017 to 2018. He served as Minister of Industries and National Production since 14 June 2018, and as Ministe ...

at the University of the Andes. Venezuela - Apure - Alto Apure

Following the rise of Hugo Chávez and the establishment of his

Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...

, the FBL began to support Chávez. Following the election of Hugo Chávez, the FBL grew 50% by 2005, amounting to about 4,000 members located in Alto Apure,

Apure Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...

according to a Venezuelan government source speaking to '' El Universal''. The FBL also operated with the complicity of the local

chavista ''Chavismo'' (from ), also known in English as Chavism or Chavezism, is a left-wing populist political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the Venezuelan President between 1999 and 2013 Hugo Chávez that c ...

government of Apure, with chavista mayor Jorge Rodríguez being the head of Alto Apure. The

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

wrote at the time that the FBL worked with the leftist Colombian guerrilla group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People's Army (FARC), to kidnap and extort Venezuelans near the Colombia-Venezuela border. The FBL was also tasked with fighting against "intervention by U.S. and other foreign forces". In 2007, the group was accused by a priest in

Guasdualito Guasdualito is a city and episcopal see in the landlocked Apure State, in southern Venezuela. Description The city is the capital of Páez Municipality, in the Distrito Especial Alto Apure. It has an important location on the border between ...

of having recruited young people to become

child soldier Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

s, an accusation which was rejected by FBL spokespeople. In a 2008 report by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', it is stated that President Chávez had been using the FBL "for the purpose of defending the motherland in case of American invasion", and that "Farc gave military training to the Bolivarian Forces of Liberation". There were rumors in 2009 that the group was in the process of disbanding, though the FBL denied this claim. Although relatively supportive of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez for his commitment to

anti-imperialism Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influen ...

, the group grew disgruntled with the direction of the

after his death in 2013, citing president

Nicolas Maduro Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

's policy of

currency intervention Currency intervention, also known as foreign exchange market intervention or Currency manipulator, currency manipulation, is a monetary policy operation. It occurs when a government or central bank buys or sells foreign currency in exchange for ...

as nothing more than a tactic that would delay an economic crisis.

References

Bibliography

External links

Official FBL websiteOfficial FBL Twitter
Communism in Venezuela Communist militant groups Guerrilla movements in Latin America Military history of Venezuela Organizations of the Bolivarian Revolution Paramilitary organizations based in Venezuela Political history of Venezuela {{Paramilitary-org-stub