Editing FN FAL (section)

=== Venezuela ===
Venezuela placed an order for 5,000 FN-made FAL rifles in 1954, in the 7×49.15mm Optimum 2 caliber.<ref name=":0" /> This [[.280 British#Variants|7×49mm]], also known as 7&nbsp;mm Liviano or 7&nbsp;mm Venezuelan, is essentially a [[7×57mm]] round shortened to intermediate length and closer to being a true intermediate round than the 7.62×51mm NATO.<ref name=":0" /> This unusual caliber was jointly developed by Venezuelan and Belgian engineers motivated by a global move towards intermediate calibers. The Venezuelans, who had been exclusively using the 7×57mm round in their light and medium weapons since the turn of the 20th century, felt it was a perfect platform on which to base a calibre tailored to the particular rigours of the Venezuelan terrain. Eventually the plan was dropped despite having ordered millions of rounds and thousands of weapons on this caliber. As the Cold War escalated, the military command felt it necessary to align with NATO on geopolitical grounds despite not being a member, resulting in the adoption of the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The 5,000 rifles of the first batch were rebarrelled to 7.62×51mm.<ref name=":0" />

When marching victoriously into Havana in 1959, Fidel Castro was carrying an FN-made Venezuelan FAL in 7&nbsp;mm Liviano.<ref name=":3" />

Until recently, the FAL was the main service rifle of the Venezuelan army, made under license by [[CAVIM]].<ref name="CAVIM">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/asmp/library/articles/PIR_Winter_2007_Recurrent.pdf|title=A Recurrent Latin American Nightmare|access-date=2010-04-01|publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]|author=Pablo Dreyfus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613045713/http://fas.org/asmp/library/articles/PIR_Winter_2007_Recurrent.pdf|archive-date=2010-06-13|url-status=live}}</ref> Venezuela has bought 100,000 [[AK-103]] assault rifles from Russia in order to replace the old FALs.<ref name="CAVIM" /> Although the full shipment arrived by the end of 2006, the FAL will remain in service with the Venezuelan Reserve Forces and the Territorial Guard.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}