Armed Forces: Active-duty strength consisted of army of 91,500, air and air defense force of 7,000, and navy of 1,500; reserve personnel of 50,000. At end of 1988, armed forces supported by nearly 50,000 Cuban troops and a few thousand Soviet and East German advisers. Army supported by 50,000-member Directorate of People's Defense and Territorial Troops, a kind of reserve militia. Two years of universal and compulsory conscription.
Combat Units and Major Equipment: Army organized into more than seventy brigades in ten military regions. Operated about 1,100 Soviet-manufactured tanks and armored fighting vehicles. Air force organized into three regiments (fighter-bomber, transport, and helicopter). Combat aircraft included MiG-23 and MiG-21 fighters. Navy used three ports and had guided missile fast patrol boats and torpedo boats.
Military Budget: Amounted to US$1.3 billion in 1986 (in constant 1980 dollars)--more than 40 percent of government expenditures and about 30 percent of GNP.
Paramilitary and Internal Security Forces: Largest group was People's Vigilance Brigades, a lightly armed citizens' militia with strength of from 800,000 to 1.5 million. In 1988 about 7,000 border guards and 8,000 police officers (supported by force of 10,000).
Data as of February 1989