WASHINGTON — Embattled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has surrounded himself with bodyguards from Cuba to ensure protection from possible disenchanted elements of his military, Pentagon officials told Congress Thursday.
Those bodyguards are in place even though U.S. intelligence has not detected any fracture in the Venezuelan military’s support for Maduro, the officials said.
The observations were shared by Adm. Craig Faller, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, who joined Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. Africa Command, before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Cuban guards that completely surround (Maduro) seem to have a grip on the top level (of government),” Fuller said.
The U.S. and other nations say that Maduro won the presidency in a tainted election. They support the head of the Venezuelan national assembly, Juan Guaidó, as interim president until new elections are held.
Nor have the sanctions led to any cracking in the ranks of the military, even though most of its members suffer from the same shortages of food and other necessities as with much of Venezuela’s population, Fuller said. “The rank-and-file are starving just like their population,” he said.
Despite that, Fuller cautioned that the military still is a concern.
On Wednesday, troops loyal to Maduro used a fuel tanker and cargo trailers to close a bridge linking Venezuela and Colombia to prevent humanitarian aid sent by the U.S. to be distributed, according to news reports.