Chavez has wrecked his armed forces, replacing trained officers with men selected primarily for their loyalty to Chavez. These commanders have been ordered to forget about traditional military thinking and adopt bizarre doctrines invented by Chavez. Even many of the officers promoted for their loyalty to Chavez, are having second thoughts about all this. To deal with this, Chavez is forming a large civilian militia, led by politicians loyal to him. Nicaragua and Cuba have pledged to provide Venezuela with military support if invaded by Colombia and the United States. This is what Chavez claims is going on, but he, Nicaragua and Cuba know it's all for show. The show goes on. Colombia and the U.S. deny they are planning to invade, and Chavez calls this part of a dastardly plot.