The dramatic U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro did far more than remove a dictator. It ripped away years of secrecy and exposed just how deeply Cuban intelligence had controlled Venezuela’s government, military, and security machinery. It also delivered a devastating humiliation to Cuba’s once feared intelligence services, killing 32 of Havana’s top military and intelligence personnel and proving that one of the most powerful spy networks in the Western Hemisphere could fail in the worst possible way.

The Deadly Cost for Cuba

Cuba publicly admitted that 32 of its nationals were killed during the raid, men it described as members of its armed forces and intelligence services. Havana declared two days of national mourning and praised them as heroes. Cuban officials said they “fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombardments of installations.” Many of the dead were high ranking officers responsible for Maduro’s personal safety and core intelligence functions inside Venezuela.

A BBC report said the total death toll in the raid may have reached 80 people, many of whom were part of Maduro’s close security team. Yet despite this fierce defense, the U.S. suffered no combat deaths. The failure stunned the intelligence world and deeply shook Cuba’s pride.

Cuba Was the Brain Behind Maduro’s Power

Experts say this outcome is so damaging because Havana was not simply a supporting partner. Cuba was central to Maduro’s survival. Venezuelan political analyst Jorge Jraissati stated that Cuba has long been “the most important intelligence provider of Venezuela,” explaining that their involvement included “running elections, building diplomatic leverage with other countries and keeping the security forces in check.”

Years of investigations confirmed that Cuba held sweeping control over Venezuela’s intelligence structure. A Reuters investigation revealed confidential agreements from 2008 giving Cuba authority to train Venezuelan troops, restructure intelligence agencies, and build an internal surveillance system to watch even Venezuela’s own military. A United Nations mission later confirmed these findings, reporting that Cuban advisers helped create new Venezuelan intelligence agencies, trained officers, and guided surveillance and infiltration techniques.

Cuban officials did not just advise from a distance. Former Venezuelan officials described Cubans embedded inside the most sensitive institutions in the country, including SEBIN, the DGCIM, the defense ministry, ports, airports, and even Venezuela’s national ID system. Human rights investigators later linked these Cuban built intelligence networks to brutal crackdowns during mass protests in 2014 and 2017, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

The Men Who Guarded Maduro

For years, Cuba personally guarded Maduro and earlier guarded Hugo Chávez. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted Cuba had been protecting Maduro and his wife “at the request” of Venezuela. Senior Cuban intelligence figures were stationed so close to Maduro that one of them, Asdrúbal de la Vega, reportedly slept in a room beside him.

Maduro himself once bragged to reporters that he had “a foolproof bunker.” That bunker failed. U.S. General Dan Caine said American spies had tracked every movement Maduro made and learned “where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.” The CIA even recruited a Venezuelan insider to reveal his exact location.

When the raid came, Cuban security forces were overpowered instantly. “What is almost worse,” said Mexico’s former foreign minister Jorge Castañeda, “is that they could not inflict any damage on the Americans.” He explained that this showed Cuba “was not where they needed to be, with the strength they needed to have.”

Supporting a Regime Facing Narcoterror Charges

Maduro has been captured to face narcoterrorism charges in the United States. Cuban intelligence spent years protecting a leader accused of running a criminal regime. Cuban intelligence helped shield his government, control his enemies, and maintain the power structure that investigators say was used to support narcotics activity and violent repression.

Cuban protection dates back to 2002, when Fidel Castro first sent intelligence officers to protect Chávez after a coup attempt. In return, Venezuela sent Cuba billions of dollars’ worth of vital oil shipments. Cuban intelligence was paid to keep the regime alive. Now Havana has lost that bargain, and along with it, not only money but influence.

Why This Defeat Is So Painful for Havana

For decades, Cuban intelligence was legendary. They foiled assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, recruited spies inside the U.S. government, built networks in Latin America and Africa, and were trusted even by the Soviet KGB. They were seen as elite, disciplined, and ruthlessly effective.

That reputation is now shattered.

María Werlau, an expert on Cuba’s activities in Venezuela, called Maduro’s capture “a defeat for Cuba,” saying it “denotes its weakening, highlighting vulnerabilities in its security procedures.” Retired U.S. intelligence officer Cedric Leighton described Cuban intelligence as “old school tradecraft,” which could not keep up with modern U.S. capabilities.

Former Cuban intelligence officer Enrique García delivered an even harsher judgment, saying, “The big mistake comes from the Cubans, from selling Maduro the idea that they were going to guarantee his security. Cuba is the one that led Maduro astray.”

Chris Simmons, a former U.S. counterintelligence official, was stunned that Cuba entirely missed U.S. covert infiltration. “They have been so good for so long, and then how do you miss this?” he asked. He said Cuban intelligence “failed to recognize that Trump is more unpredictable than they ever imagined.”

Failure on Every Level

Experts now believe Cuba made almost every possible mistake. They underestimated U.S. willingness to act. They failed to detect CIA infiltration. They did not understand how elite Delta Force operates. They offered Maduro false confidence. They could not defend him. They could not even meaningfully harm the attackers.

General Caine said U.S. forces kept “the element of surprise,” wiped out radar and communications, used cyberattacks, and moved through “corridors of digital darkness” as Cuban controlled defenses collapsed around them.

In the end, the Cuban intelligence service, once viewed as one of the smartest and toughest in the world, lost more than 30 elite officers, failed to save its most important client, failed to protect its strategic lifeline, and failed to preserve its powerful image.

A Crisis Now Spreads to Havana

This failure now travels beyond Venezuela. Cuba faces economic disaster, potential loss of Venezuelan oil, and growing unrest at home. Marco Rubio warned that Venezuelans “must declare independence from Cuba,” while Trump said Cuba “is ready to fall.”

Enrique García warned that if the Cuban regime loses its economic lifeline, “no system can withstand it.” The intelligence agencies that have crushed dissent for decades may no longer have the power to guarantee regime survival.

For Cuba, the fall of Maduro was not just the fall of an ally. It was the collapse of a strategy, the death of dozens of elite agents, and the exposure of a secret empire of influence that is now weakened, embarrassed, and under pressure like never before.

ACZ Editor: Make no mistake, the Cubans still have some control there. And the other major controlling parties will be the narcotraffickers (a multibillion dollar organization) and Tren de Aragua (another multibillion dollar operation), possibly supported by what is left of Colombia’s FARC (3000 fighters?) and ELN. Also keep in mind that there are dozens of military generals who have amassed billion dollar fortunes, who will not give that up willingly.

Trump was correct in his decision to not just turn over Venezuela to the properly elected opposition party. They would never survive against the combination of forces that still control Venezuela. This is not over by a long shot and the war for control is just starting. Hopefully the Venezuelan military can be controlled at least to the point where they can be directed against the bad guys. But narcos have the “plomo o plata” method of recruiting spies, i.e. I can shoot you (and your wife and children in front of you), or I can give you a million dollars to work for us. It is surprisingly effective.

If U.S. forces have managed to get ahold of Venezuelan intelligence files, that would be a gold mine and would hasten the transition to Democracy much more quickly.