How Cuba Propped Up Maduro

What It Covers

How Venezuela transformed from a thriving oil-rich democracy into a narco-state controlled by Cartel de los Soles, Cuba's role in propping up the Maduro regime, and implications of Trump's military operation that extracted Maduro.

Key Questions Answered

• •Venezuela's Cartel Government Structure: Cartel de los Soles operates as military units where high-ranking officers control specific territories without competing, unlike traditional cartels. Each commander manages their region's drug trafficking operations, creating a decentralized but coordinated criminal enterprise embedded within government institutions with diplomatic immunity protecting cartel leaders.
• •Cuba's Intelligence Takeover: Cuba embedded intelligence officers, military personnel, and Ministry of Interior agents throughout Venezuela's security apparatus since 1994. In exchange for oil subsidies worth billions, Cuba provided population control expertise modeled on KGB tactics. Thirty-two of the soldiers killed protecting Maduro were Cuban, revealing the regime's dependence on foreign military support.
• •Drug Trafficking Scale and Routes: Venezuela operates three main drug trafficking routes from Colombia through Puerto Cabello port to Europe and the United States. Cartels generate so much cash they literally burn money at parties because storage becomes impractical. The operation extends beyond cocaine to include human trafficking, weapons, and illegal gold mining across Latin America.
• •Oil Industry Corruption Network: Venezuelan oil gets sent to Cuba as payment for intelligence services, then Cuba resells it to China for profit. The Cuban military owns eighty-five percent of Cuba's economy through shell companies abroad that launder cartel money. This creates a financial structure supporting both regimes while bypassing international sanctions and oversight.
• •Political Constraints on Regime Change: Trump partnered with Delcy Rodriguez instead of Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado because Machado lacks military support within the cartel-controlled armed forces. The administration faces domestic political backlash for intervention while trying to force negotiations with remaining regime elements. Machado maintains moral authority by avoiding deals with the criminal enterprise.