| Date stamped December 3, 2025, so now a useful backgrounder to subsequent events. |
[CIBERCUBA] The paradox is that Maduro fears not so much Washington, but those who support him. Cuba has become his guardian and his jailer: it controls the security that protects him, but also the security that could eliminate him.
Nicolás Maduro has bolstered his personal security with new Cuban agents in his team and with more undercover intelligence officers infiltrating the Venezuelan army, amid fears that his own allies from Havana may eliminate him if he relinquishes power, according to U.S. intelligence reports and a recent article from The New York Times.
High-ranking U.S. officials cited by the portal Axios claim that the Chavista leader fears being assassinated by his Cuban advisors if he steps down from office, due to the sensitive information he possesses regarding joint operations between Caracas and Havana.
Maduro, those sources affirm, "knows too much" about the secret agreements that have sustained the alliance between both regimes for years, including drug trafficking operations, irregular financial transactions, and intelligence maneuvers in Latin America.
The report adds that the Venezuelan leader has taken extreme measures to protect himself: he frequently changes beds and mobile phones, moves between different residences in Caracas, and has strengthened his security detail with Cuban agents specialized in counterintelligence.
According to The New York Times, Maduro is even distrustful of his military surroundings and has ordered the incorporation of more officers from the G2 Cuban intelligence service into presidential security and the army structure. The goal is to detect potential internal betrayals, but also to ensure Havana's direct presence in the Venezuelan power apparatus.
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