The Venezuelan army is under constant surveillance by Cuban intelligence
14ymedio, Mexico City, 20 October 2024 — Former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castañeda made it very clear. If the international community wants to help Venezuela resolve the crisis following Nicolás Maduro’s fraudulent presidential election, it will first have to negotiate with Cuba. “Without Cuban cooperation, it is impossible,” the former diplomat said in an interview with the Argentine news site Infobae.
“I have my doubts but the Cubans claim that the disaster they are experiencing is due to increased sanctions — the “blockade*” as they call it — and limits on remittances. If all that is true and the situation in Cuba is as dire as they say, then there is an incentive,” he explained.
The former minister has a hunch that Havana will try to normalize relations with the U.S by facilitating Maduro’s handover of power
The former minister argued that Venezuela’s army is subject to constant surveillance, supervision and meddling by Cuba’s intelligence services. “They are very, very good,” he emphasized. “They prevented any attempt to overthrow Fidel or Raúl Castro for sixty-five years. And who knows how many assassination attempts on one or the other? They are very good at what they do.”
His time as head of the Mexican foreign ministry more than 20 years ago (between 2000 and 2003) was marked by a historic breakdown in relations between Mexico and Cuba. First, there were resolutions against Cuba in the Organization of American States’ Commission on Human Rights. Later, there was an incident — it was dubbed the “eat-and-run” — when then-president Vicente Fox suggested to Fidel Castro that he leave the country before the United Nations Summit on Financing for Development, which was being held in the Mexican city of Monterrey, had ended.
That is why Castañeda has stayed away from politics and now teaches at New York University while contributing articles to various Mexican and international media outlets. He believes the international community, particularly Latin American countries, should insist on finding a solution for Venezuela. “I believe we must continue insisting but without countries like Mexico abandoning the effort because that causes even more damage,” he points out. “Mexico is no longer active in the group that includes Colombia and Brazil, and that weakens the efforts of those other two countries. The result is they now see themselves playing a more passive role. They must also include other countries in the region without taking sides.”
Castañeda believes the international community should insist on finding a solution for Venezuela
Castañeda also warns of the threat posed by Venezuela’s relations with countries such as China and Russia, and the role they have played in the country’s recent post-election crisis, which has left twenty-four dead and more than two thousand detained by the Maduro government. The repression, he points out, has also forced opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia to seek asylum in Spain.
“It is my understanding the Chinese are not particularly interested in getting involved in this conflict in part because Maduro still owes them a lot of money which he has not paid,” he observes. “They are upset because he has not paid them in either petroleum or cash. They also give the impression that they don’t want to get into a fight with the United States over Venezuela.”
The former Mexican foreign minister admits that, in the case of Russia, the situation is more complex. “Putin is obviously trying to irritate and provoke the United States through his support for Venezuela,” Castañeda notes. ” He has sent weapons and some money, and made demonstrations of force such as sending brigades of bombers and ships. However, it does not seem to be having much much of an effect on the situation.”
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