Chavez Promotes Presence of Women in FAB, Admiral Says

Venezuela's and Latin America's first female Admiral Carmen Melendez highlighted on Sunday the Hugo Chavez administration's driving force for increasing the presence of women in the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FAB).

Nearly half of the current military students are women and, within ten years, this figure will equal that of men, noted Melendez in an interview on Jose Vicente Rangel's TV program on Sunday.

The admiral stated that women are gaining a space in the FAB not only for their gender but also for their merits and their everyday work.

The current presence of women in the FAB has occurred thanks to Chavez's effort since 2000, when he assumed the presidency of Venezuela and began boosting the idea of including women again in military academies, assured Melendez.

Melendez was promoted to Admiral on July 3 by the Head of State, and become the first woman in the history of Venezuela and Latin America to take such a post.