Comandante En Jefe: The New All Military Leader Rank
The office of the Venezuelan military supreme commander has always been held by the President of Venezuela as per constitutional requirements, however with the new law sanctioned in 2008, the “Comandante en Jefe” is not only a function attributed to the executive branch, but is now set to be a military rank equivalent to a Five Stars General or a Marshall. Anybody who gets elected President of Venezuela is incorporated to the military with a full commissioned officer status and will have a uniform.
Chávez retired as Lieutenant Colonel in the Army in 1992, but with this new responsibility he is reinstated in the army and has the right to wear a uniform and distinctive shoulder badge and sleeve insignia. He was also given a sword. This rank holds the direct operational control and command over all armed forces, and is held while he is in the presidential role.
The position is a copy of the one used by Fidel Castro in Cuba, and the design of the shoulder patch are very similar, but not in the shoulder board on the dress uniform since Venezuelan military ranks are inspired by German (especially Prussian) military influence.
Read more about this topic: Venezuelan Military Ranks
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“‘Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)