CARACAS ¨C Cuban security advisers and doctors ?have been leaving Venezuela as Interim President Delcy Rodriguez¡¯s government faces intense pressure from Washington to unwind Latin America¡¯s most consequential leftist alliance, according to 11 sources familiar with the matter.
Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has entrusted her protection to Venezuelan bodyguards, according to four of the sources, unlike deposed president Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, the late president Hugo Chavez, who both relied on elite Cuban forces.
Thirty-two Cubans were killed in the U.S. military attack that captured Maduro on Jan. 3, according to the Cuban government. These soldiers and bodyguards were part of a deep security agreement between Caracas and Havana that began in the late 2000s in ?which Cuban intelligence agents embedded throughout the military and Venezuela¡¯s formidable DGCIM counterintelligence unit, which was fundamental to weeding out domestic opposition.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.