Maduro Bolsters Security with Cuban Bodyguards Amidst Coup Fears

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has significantly increased the number of Cuban bodyguards within his personal security team. In addition, the involvement of Cuban counterintelligence officers in the Venezuelan armed forces has been expanded.

This move, driven by the anxiety and paranoia among the Chavista leadership due to the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, aims to mitigate the risk of a coup d'état, as reported by The New York Times journalist Anatoly Kurmanaev.

The article, titled "Can Venezuela Count on Any Ally to Help if the U.S. Attacks?", describes how the Maduro regime has deepened its reliance on the Cuban security apparatus at a time when the United States has mobilized its military and labeled the Venezuelan leader as the head of a narcoterrorist organization.

Anonymous sources close to the Venezuelan military have indicated that Maduro and his inner circle view the Cuban agents as "experienced and incorruptible," a trait that, according to the American newspaper, is crucial for maintaining internal loyalty within the Venezuelan military structure.

The report highlights that while powerful nations like Russia, China, and Iran are reluctant or unable to provide substantial support to Caracas, Cuba has taken on a vital role in the regime's survival, not through arms, but through its expertise in political surveillance and internal intelligence.

The presence of Cuban officers in the Venezuelan military apparatus has been expanded with the aim of detecting and neutralizing any attempts at uprising, especially at a time when the opposition and Washington seek to fracture loyalties within the armed forces.

The reinforcement of presidential security with Cuban personnel confirms the close symbiosis between Havana and Caracas, an alliance built on mutual distrust of national military forces and a shared need to preserve authoritarian regimes under international pressure.

Analysts cited by The New York Times argue that Maduro's strategy reflects his government's structural dependency on Cuban support, both in intelligence gathering and in the training of political cadres and internal repression. For Cuba, Venezuela remains a vital source of oil and resources amidst global isolation.

The deployment of Cuban bodyguards and counterintelligence agents in Venezuela highlights how the Havana regime continues to export its expertise in political control, especially as its own survival hinges on the fate of its closest ally.

The fall of Maduro, the newspaper warns, would not only mark the end of an era in Venezuela but also deliver the harshest blow to the Castro regime in recent history.