HAVANA: The capture by US forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the killing in the operation of 32 Cubans assigned to protect him represent a major blow for the island&#39;s revered intelligence services, experts say.&nbsp;Fearful of betrayal by dissenters within Venezuela&#39;s ranks, the leftist Maduro, like his late mentor Hugo Chavez sourced his security detail in communist-ruled Cuba.&nbsp;But the Cubans proved little match for the US special forces sent by helicopter to snatch Maduro from a military compound after US jets had pummeled Venezuela&#39;s air defenses.&nbsp;Of the 32 Cubans killed, along with 23 Venezuelan troops, 21 were from the Cuban interior ministry, which oversees the intelligence services, officials said.&nbsp;The remaining 11 were from Cuba&#39;s military.&nbsp;Experts consulted by AFP agreed that the key to the seamless execution of the US operation meticulously prepared for months, in complete secrecy was the element of surprise.&nbsp;But former Venezuelan military officer Jose Gustavo Arocha of the Center for a Secure Free Society, a US think tank specializing in defense issues, also suggested that Cuba had misjudged the threat.&nbsp;Cuban intelligence &quot;convinced the Maduro regime and its security agencies that the United States would never attack on Venezuelan territory,&quot; Arocha said.&nbsp;Former US intelligence officer Fulton Armstrong, who is now a Latin America researcher at American University in Washington, also pointed to intelligence failures.&nbsp;Chief among them, he said, was the failure to anticipate the attack and then to detect helicopters entering Venezuela&#39;s airspace.&nbsp;&quot;Even a five- or 10-minute warning would have made a massive difference for the guards and for Maduro,&quot; the former CIA agent said.&nbsp;US forces however, had a major advantage in the form of stealth drones, used to monitor the Venezuelan leader&#39;s movements in real time, as well as more advanced weapons and combat gear.&nbsp;Paul Hare, a former British ambassador to Cuba and Venezuela, argued that Cuban intelligence underestimated US access to &quot;insider cooperation in Venezuela,&quot;&nbsp; an informant within Maduro&#39;s camp.&nbsp;Citing sources close to the operation, The New York Times reported that a CIA source within the Venezuelan government revealed Maduro&#39;s location.&nbsp;The United States had issued a reward of $50 million for information leading to his capture.&nbsp;Aura of invincibility&nbsp;For decades, the Cuban secret service, trained during the Soviet era by the KGB, enjoyed a reputation for invincibility.&nbsp;Besides having foiled some 600 assassination attempts against late leader Fidel Castro, Cuba was reputed for its ability to infiltrate foreign intelligence services and recruit high-ranking informants, particularly Americans.&nbsp;The most recent case to come to light was that of Victor Manuel Rocha, a former US diplomat sentenced in 2024 to 15 years in prison after working for over four decades for the Cuban state.&nbsp;But Cuba &quot;didn&#39;t adequately read the Trump administration,&quot; said Arocha, noting that the administration&#39;s National Security Strategy unveiled in December clearly articulated Trump&#39;s goal of asserting US dominance over Latin America.&nbsp;Washington had regularly denounced Cuba&#39;s role, since the 2000s, in the Venezuelan security apparatus.&nbsp;The routine response from Caracas and Havana was that Cuba, in return for Venezuelan oil supplies, provided its ally with doctors and humanitarian workers.&nbsp;Arocha argued that &quot;so many years... doing the same thing successfully&quot; blinded the Cubans to Trump&#39;s willingness to defy diplomacy and international law, so they did not see him coming.&nbsp;The Republican leader stunned the world by ordering the capture of the Venezuelan president in what his administration said was a law enforcement operation that did not require authorization from Congress.&nbsp;&quot;All the capabilities of Cuban intelligence were blocked for the first time in the region... because their traditional methods became irrelevant against this new decision-making style,&quot; Arocha said.

Americas

US forces captured Nicolas Maduro in a surprise operation that killed Cuban and Venezuelan guards. Experts say Cuban intelligence failed to anticipate the attack, underestimated US intentions, and was outmatched by secrecy, technology, and insider information.

How Cuba was blindsided by the operation to capture Maduro

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela&#39;s interim government will deliver up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, and that the proceeds &quot;will be controlled by me&quot; as president. &quot;The Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,&quot; Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. &quot;This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.&quot;<div class="fr-embed" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115850817778602689/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" spellcheck="false">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div>&#39;No foreign power&#39; running countryVenezuela&#39;s interim president Delcy Rodriguez insisted Tuesday that no foreign power was governing her country, after US President Donald Trump said Washington would &quot;run&quot; it during a transition after ousting her predecessor. Rodriguez, who was vice president under toppled leader Nicolas Maduro, has given mixed signals about how much she is prepared to cooperate with Trump, at times sounding conciliatory, at others defiant. Speaking three days after US special forces snatched Maduro and his wife in a stunning raid in Caracas prefaced by airstrikes, Rodriguez said: &quot;The government of Venezuela is in charge in our country, and no-one else.&quot; &quot;There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela.&quot; Trump insists Washington is now &quot;in charge&quot; of the Caribbean country but says he is prepared to work with Rodriguez -- provided she submits to his demand for access to Venezuela&#39;s vast oil reserves. Rodriguez has offered an olive branch but also appeared anxious to keep on her side the hardliners who control the security forces and paramilitaries, which have patrolled the streets since Maduro&#39;s capture. &quot;We are a people that does not surrender, we are a people that does not give up,&quot; she declared, paying tribute to the &quot;martyrs&quot; of the US attacks. Confirmation of lossesIn its first confirmation of losses, Venezuela&#39;s military on Tuesday published a list of 23 troops, including five generals, killed in the US strikes. Top ally Cuba separately issued a list of 32 dead Cuban military personnel, included two colonels and a lieutenant colonel, many of whom were members of Maduro&#39;s security detail. Venezuela has not yet confirmed the number of civilian casualties in the operation in which US forces grabbed Maduro and Flores and took them to the United States to face trial. Attorney General Tarek William Saab spoke Tuesday of &quot;dozens&quot; of civilian and military dead, without giving a breakdown.

Post on Truth Social says ‘The Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.’ 

Trump says Venezuela 'turning over' up to 50M barrels of oil to US

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Tuesday that the country demonstrated its military preparedness and operational capability during the May 2025 conflict with India, earning international recognition and boosting confidence in the country&rsquo;s defense sector.&nbsp;Speaking on Geo News program &quot;Capital Talk,&quot; Asif said Pakistan was &ldquo;ready and proved its abilities in the May war,&rdquo; adding that the confrontation highlighted the armed forces&rsquo; resolve and effectiveness. &nbsp;Asif said the conflict exposed India&rsquo;s strategic weaknesses and damaged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s credibility at home and abroad.&nbsp;&ldquo;India reached out to the United States and also contacted China during the fighting,&rdquo; Asif said. &ldquo;Despite that, Pakistan delivered a decisive response.&rdquo;&nbsp;He warned that any future aggression would be met in the same way.&nbsp;Asif said Pakistan&rsquo;s aircraft and weapons systems were tested during the conflict and have since attracted international attention. &ldquo;Our military platforms have drawn global interest,&rdquo; he said. When asked whether Pakistan was prepared to fight on both its eastern and western borders in 2026, Asif said, &ldquo;Yes, we are completely ready, and we proved our preparedness in May last year.&rdquo;&nbsp;Reduced reliance on IMFThe minister said growing defense procurement orders reflect rising international confidence in Pakistan&rsquo;s military capabilities.&nbsp;&ldquo;This trend can help reduce Pakistan&rsquo;s reliance on the International Monetary Fund within six months,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;The two nuclear-armed neighbors went to war in May after India launched what Pakistan described as an unprovoked attack following the killing of tourists in Indian-occupied Kashmir.&nbsp;India has accused Pakistani nationals of carrying out the attack, a claim Islamabad has denied. Pakistan has instead called for a neutral, international investigation.&nbsp;The fighting ended on May 10 with a US-brokered ceasefire.&nbsp;Asif said the May conflict reinforced Pakistan&rsquo;s defense readiness and deterrence posture, adding that the country&rsquo;s armed forces are respected worldwide.&nbsp;He also raised concerns about regional security, alleging links between India and militant groups, including the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and the Afghan Taliban.&nbsp;Responding to a question on global affairs, Asif said Russia had &ldquo;some justifications&rdquo; for its actions in Ukraine but said the Venezuelan conflict had &ldquo;no legal or moral basis,&rdquo; warning that the global order is under strain.&nbsp;Commenting on Israel, Asif called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the world&rsquo;s &ldquo;most wanted criminal&rdquo; and a &ldquo;worst perpetrator against humanity.&rdquo;&nbsp;He added, &ldquo;If the United States truly stands for human rights, Netanyahu should be brought to trial.&rdquo;

Security

Says the country is prepared to counter threats on both eastern and western fronts, stressing deterrence against India and warning of militant risks linked to Afghanistan.

Pakistan defense minister says May conflict proved military readiness, deterrence strength

WASHINGTON: A throwaway remark last week by President Donald Trump has raised questions about whether US forces may have carried their first land strike against drug cartels in Venezuela.&nbsp;Trump said the US knocked out a &quot;big facility&quot; for producing trafficking boats, as he was discussing his pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an interview broadcast Friday.&nbsp;&quot;They have a big plant or a big facility where they send, you know, where the ships come from,&quot; Trump said in an interview with billionaire supporter John Catsimatidis on the WABC radio station in New York.&nbsp;&quot;Two nights ago we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.&quot;&nbsp;Trump did not say where the facility was located or give any other details. US forces have carried out numerous strikes in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, killing more than 100 people.&nbsp;The Pentagon referred questions about Trump&#39;s remarks to the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from AFP.&nbsp;There has been no official comment from the Venezuelan government.&nbsp;Trump has been saying for weeks that the United States will &quot;soon&quot; start carrying out land strikes targeting drug cartels in Latin America, but there have been no confirmed attacks to date.&nbsp;The Trump administration has been ramping up pressure on Maduro, accusing the Venezuelan leader of running a drug cartel himself and imposing an oil tanker blockade.&nbsp;Maduro has accused Washington of attempting regime change.

Trump claimed the US destroyed a major drug-boat production facility, sparking speculation of the first land strike in Venezuela, though no details or confirmations followed, as Washington intensifies pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and sanctions.

Trump hints at land strike as Venezuela pressure mounts

WASHINGTON: The US Coast Guard was pursuing another allegedly sanctioned tanker on Sunday, a US official told AFP, as Washington ramps up its pressure campaign targeting Venezuela&#39;s vital oil sector. The &quot;active pursuit&quot; in the Caribbean Sea was happening a day after the Coast Guard seized its second vessel off Venezuela in two weeks. US President Donald Trump announced on December 16 a blockade of &quot;sanctioned oil vessels&quot; sailing to and from Venezuela, demanding the return of allegedly stolen US assets in the oil-rich South American country. He has also deployed a large navy armada in the Caribbean with a stated mission of combatting drug trafficking, but which Caracas says is a pressure campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro. &quot;The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela&#39;s illegal sanctions evasion. It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order,&quot; a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a statement to AFP. News outlets identified the ship involved as the Bella 1, an oil tanker under US sanctions since 2024 because of alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah. According to the specialized site TankerTrackers, the ship was en route to Venezuela but not carrying cargo. US forces approached the vessel late Saturday, but the ship did not submit to being boarded and continued sailing, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed officials. Earlier on Saturday, the US Coast Guard seized the Centuries, which according to TankerTrackers is a Chinese-owned and Panama-flagged tanker. It said that ship was loaded with 1.8 million barrels of crude oil at a Venezuelan port earlier this month before being escorted out of the Latin American country&#39;s exclusive economic zone on December 18. An AFP review found that the Centuries did not appear on the US Treasury Department&#39;s list of sanctioned companies and individuals. The Trump administration claims that Venezuela is using oil, its main resource, to finance &quot;narcoterrorism.&quot; The US military since September has also conducted a series of air strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Critics have questioned the legality of the attacks, which have killed more than 100 people. Caracas denies any involvement in drug trafficking and insists that Washington is seeking to overthrow Maduro to seize Venezuela&#39;s oil reserves.

The US Coast Guard is pursuing a third sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean, intensifying pressure on Venezuela’s oil sector as Washington enforces a blockade and targets alleged sanctions evasion

US in 'pursuit' of third oil tanker in Caribbean: official

WASHINGTON: The United States has stopped and boarded an oil tanker off Venezuela, the latest salvo in a pressure campaign against Caracas, US media reported Saturday. The New York Times reported that the vessel was a Panamanian-flagged tanker carrying Venezuelan oil that had recently left Venezuela and was in Caribbean waters.

United States stopped and boarded an oil tanker off Venezuela, the latest salvo in a pressure campaign against Caracas

US intercepts oil tanker off coast of Venezuela: US media

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a blockade of &quot;sanctioned oil vessels&quot; heading to and leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas while issuing new demands for the country&#39;s crude. The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean -- with the stated goal of combating drug trafficking in Latin America, but taking particular aim at Venezuela. Caracas views the operation as a pressure campaign to oust leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington and many nations view as an illegitimate president. After weeks of military jet flybys off the Venezuelan coast and deadly strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed over 90 people, the Trump administration heightened its campaign last week by seizing an oil tanker leaving the South American nation. It subsequently announced sanctions on several other vessels. &quot;Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,&quot; Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening. Trump said the large US naval armada amassed in the Caribbean -- which includes the world&#39;s largest aircraft carrier -- &quot;will only get bigger&quot; until Venezuela returns &quot;to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.&quot; The US president did not specify which oil or land he was referring to, but Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 1970s. Later, under the presidency of Maduro&#39;s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, companies were forced to cede majority control to the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA. &quot;The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,&quot; Trump wrote. Maduro has repeatedly claimed the massive US military deployment within striking distance of his country is part of a plan to overthrow him and &quot;steal&quot; Venezuela&#39;s abundant oil under the ruse of its anti-drug operation. Though the United States already has sanctions on Venezuela&#39;s oil sector, seizing its exports could potentially cripple its already struggling economy, creating massive political headwinds for Maduro. &quot;If there are no oil exports, it will affect the foreign exchange market, the country&#39;s imports... There could be an economic crisis,&quot; Elias Ferrer of Orinoco Research, a Venezuelan advisory firm, told AFP recently. &quot;Not just a recession, but also shortages of food and medicine, because we wouldn&#39;t be able to import.&quot; Venezuela has been sidestepping US oil sanctions for years, selling crude at a discounted price on the black market, mainly to China. Venezuela is estimated to have oil reserves of some 303 billion barrels, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- more than any other nation.

US President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of 'sanctioned oil vessels' leaving and heading to Venezuela, in a further escalation of his pressure campaign on Caracas.

Trump orders blockade of 'sanctioned oil tankers' in Venezuela

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the airspace above and near Venezuela should be considered closed, the latest escalation in a standoff with leftist leader Nicolas Maduro. &quot;To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,&quot; Trump wrote on his Truth Social network, &quot;please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.&quot; The US president did not elaborate. Trump&#39;s administration is piling pressure on Venezuela, with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world&#39;s largest aircraft carrier. Washington says the aim is to curb drug trafficking, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal. US forces have carried out strikes against more than 20 alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing more than 80 people. Washington has yet to release evidence that the vessels it targeted were used to smuggle drugs or posed a threat to the United States. Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign and the accompanying military buildup. US aviation authorities last week urged civilian aircraft operating in Venezuelan airspace to &quot;exercise caution&quot; due to the &quot;worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.&quot; That warning prompted six airlines that account for much of the travel in South America to suspend flights to Venezuela. The move infuriated Caracas and led it to ban the companies -- Spain&#39;s Iberia, Portugal&#39;s TAP, Colombia&#39;s Avianca, Chile and Brazil&#39;s LATAM, Brazil&#39;s GOL and Turkish Airlines -- for &quot;joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government.&quot; The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump and Maduro had spoken by phone last week and discussed a possible meeting in the United States. The report about the Trump-Maduro call came a day after the US president said efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking by land were imminent, further ratcheting up tensions with Caracas.

Washington escalated tensions with Venezuela as President Trump warned airspace was closed and deployed major military assets, citing anti-drug efforts. Airstrikes, airline suspensions, and Caracas’ retaliatory bans fueled the standoff, despite reports of a recent Trump–Maduro phone call.

Trump says Venezuela airspace should be considered 'closed in its entirety'

CARACAS<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">:&nbsp;At least 14 miners have died in floods caused by heavy rain in eastern Venezuela, rescue workers said Tuesday. Disaster relief agencies and the military said in a joint statement that they were working to recover the bodies of the workers from a gold mine in the town of El Callao in Bolivar state. The workers were underground when heavy rain fell on the region, which borders both Guyana and Brazil, flooding several mine shafts. &quot;They were caught by surprise,&quot; Bolivar Governor Yulisbeth Garcia said in a statement, adding that the rescue effort was continuing. Videos posted on social media showed workers bringing up several muddied bodies from the mine. &quot;What we&#39;re experiencing is horrific,&quot; Elizabeth Zerpa, who lost two relatives in the disaster &mdash; brothers from the same family &mdash; told AFP. El Callao&#39;s mayor, Jesus Coromoto Lugo, sent his condolences to the victims&#39; families in a social media post. Gold mining is the economic mainstay of El Callao, a town around 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Caracas and home to around 60,000 miners, according to the mayor. It was not clear whether the mine was operating legally or illegally. Deadly accidents are common at illegal gold mines across South America. Between 2023 and 2024, at least 30 miners died in the collapse of gold mines in Bolivar state.

Not clear whether mine was operating legally or illegally; deadly accidents are common at illegal gold mines across South America; at least 30 miners died in the collapse of gold mines in Bolivar state between 2023 and 2024. 

At least 14 miners killed in Venezuela floods

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;President Donald Trump has declared that the United States is engaged in &quot;armed conflict&quot; with drug cartels, his administration said in a notice sent to Congress after recent strikes on boats off Venezuela. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP on Thursday, is designed as a legal justification for at least three recent strikes in international waters that have killed at least 14 people. Mounting tensions&nbsp;The Trump administration has deployed several military vessels to the Caribbean Sea to counter drug smugglers amid mounting tensions with Venezuela&#39;s leftist President Nicolas Maduro. &quot;The president determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States,&quot; the notice from the Pentagon said. The notice also describes suspected smugglers as &quot;unlawful combatants.&quot; The recent US strikes targeted boats allegedly loaded with drugs off the coast of Venezuela, but legal experts have raised doubts about the legality of Washington&#39;s actions. &lsquo;In line with the law&rsquo;&quot;As we have said many times, the president acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores,&quot; White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told AFP. &quot;He is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans.&quot; A White House official stated that the note was sent to Congress after one of the strikes on September 15, noting that it was legally mandated to do so following any attack involving the US military.&quot;It does not convey any new information,&quot; the official told AFP. &lsquo;An illegal incursion&rsquo;Tensions have mounted over the strikes and the US naval build-up. Venezuela said Thursday it had detected &quot;an illegal incursion&quot; by five US fighter jets flying &quot;75 kilometers from our shores.&quot; Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino denounced the alleged flights as a &quot;provocation&quot; and a &quot;threat to our national security.&quot; A government statement, meanwhile, accused the United States of flouting international law and jeopardizing civil aviation in the Caribbean Sea. Trump last month dispatched 10 F-35 aircraft to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, as part of the biggest military deployment in the area in over three decades. &lsquo;Shot down&rsquo;He also sent eight warships and a nuclear submarine to the region as part of a stated operation to combat drug trafficking across the Caribbean to the United States. After two Venezuelan military planes buzzed an American naval vessel last month, Trump warned Caracas that its jets would be &quot;shot down&quot; if there was any repeat of the incident. Maduro has accused Trump of a covert bid to bring about regime change.

President Trump has declared the US in “armed conflict” with drug cartels, labeling them terrorist groups. Military strikes near Venezuela sparked legal concerns and heightened tensions, with Venezuela accusing the US of illegal incursions and provocation.

Articles tagged with "Venezuela"

How Cuba was blindsided by the operation to capture Maduro

Trump says Venezuela 'turning over' up to 50M barrels of oil to US

Pakistan defense minister says May conflict proved military readiness, deterrence strength

Trump hints at land strike as Venezuela pressure mounts

US in 'pursuit' of third oil tanker in Caribbean: official

US intercepts oil tanker off coast of Venezuela: US media

Trump orders blockade of 'sanctioned oil tankers' in Venezuela

Trump says Venezuela airspace should be considered 'closed in its entirety'

At least 14 miners killed in Venezuela floods

US President Trump declares 'armed conflict' with drug cartels

How Cuba was blindsided by the operation to capture Maduro