Cuban agents are protecting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as tensions flare with the US — as American forces seized a third oil tanker in the Caribbean on Sunday.
The counterintelligence forces from Cuba have been making sure the embattled Maduro is surrounded by security around the clock and no one around him carries phones or other electronic devices, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.
“They are taking very good care of Nicolás Maduro and his immediate successors,” said Thomas A. Shannon Jr., a former high-ranking U.S. diplomat who spoke to the Journal. “The Cubans are not going to go quietly into the dark night.”
The seizing of oil vessels could create a crisis-level shortage in Cuba, which gets a majority of its oil from longtime longtime community ally Venezuela.
Cuban agents have long been a presence in the country but recently ramped up protection of Madura as President Donald Trump has criticized the country’s government built up US military presence in the ocean near the South American country and announced a “blockade.”
Earlier this month, American forces seized a ship carrying over 1 million barrels of oil to Cuba, and on Saturday a Bella 1 tanker flying Panamanian flag was seized as it headed to Venezuela to load up, according to Bloomberg.
Without oil imports, experts warn the Cuban energy grid is on the brink, with frequent power outages plaguing the island.
In response to mounting tensions between Caracas and Washington, Maduro has sought to keep appearances up, posting consistently on Tiktok. On Saturday, he posted a video of himself singing “No War, Yes Peace” – a hit remix of his voice – to some parrots at a zoo.
But behind closed doors, Maduro has taken precautions. He rarely schedules his public appearances and has been rotating sleeping locations, according to sources who spoke with the New York Times. It’s unclear how many Cuban counterintelligence agents have been deployed to Venezuela.
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