Security advisers and Cuban doctors have been leaving Venezuela as the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez faces intense pressure from the United States to dismantle the most important leftist alliance in Latin America, according to 11 sources familiar with the matter.
The interim president of Venezuela entrusted her protection to Venezuelan bodyguards, according to four of the sources, unlike ousted president Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, who relied on elite Cuban forces.
Intelligence Agents
Thirty-two Cubans were killed in the U.S. military attack that captured Maduro on January 3, according to the Cuban government. These soldiers and bodyguards were part of a security agreement between Caracas and Havana, begun in the late 2000s, in which Cuban intelligence agents infiltrated the Venezuelan Army and the DGCIM counterintelligence unit, which was fundamental to eliminating the internal opposition.
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“The Cuban influence was absolutely essential” for the survival of the chavista government, said Alejandro Velasco, associate professor of history at New York University and a specialist on Venezuela.
Within the DGCIM, some Cuban advisers were removed from their positions, according to a former Venezuelan intelligence official. Some of the Cuban medical professionals and security advisers traveled from Venezuela to Cuba on flights in the past weeks, two of the sources said.
Shifts Between Countries
A source close to the ruling party of Venezuela said that the Cubans were leaving on Rodríguez’s orders due to U.S. pressure. The other sources did not clarify whether the Cubans were being forced to leave by the new Venezuelan leadership, leaving voluntarily or being recalled to Havana.
The decision to remove the Cubans from the presidential guard and the counterintelligence unit had not been disclosed previously.
Before the operation to oust Maduro, thousands of Cuban doctors, nurses and sports trainers worked in Venezuela as part of social assistance programs started by Chávez. In return, Venezuela supplied Cuba with a much-needed source of oil.
After the U.S. attack, President Donald Trump promised to end the security relationship between Venezuela and Cuba.
