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

SAN JUAN: Hurricane Imelda was nearly on top of Bermuda late Wednesday as a Category 2 storm that forecasters warned was expected to bring potentially destructive weather to the British territory. &ldquo;Imelda&#39;s core is now moving over Bermuda, where hurricane-force winds, damaging waves, and flash flooding are expected into the morning,&rdquo; the National Weather Service in Miami said in an 11 p.m. update. Imelda was about 20 miles (30 kilometres) southwest of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph) while moving east-northeast at 29 mph (46 kph), the center said. A hurricane warning remained in effect for Bermuda, a wealthy overseas territory with strong structures that have withstood powerful storms in previous years. Imelda was expected to drop between 2 and 4 inches (5 and 10 centimetres) of rain across Bermuda and produce a dangerous storm surge that the hurricane center said could unleash coastal flooding. Hundreds of customers were without power ahead of the storm. Bermuda closed its public schools, government offices, and international airport on Wednesday as it deployed 100 soldiers to secure infrastructure, clear roads, and help at emergency shelters ahead of the storm. &ldquo;This is a dangerous storm system that could bring destructive winds, heavy rainfall, and significant coastal impacts,&rdquo; said Michael Weeks, Bermuda&rsquo;s national security minister. Deadly stormEarlier in the week, Imelda battered the northern Caribbean, unleashing widespread flooding in eastern Cuba, where two people died. In the province of Guant&aacute;namo, more than 18,000 people were evacuated, while in Santiago de Cuba, flooding and landslides cut off access to 17 communities where more than 24,000 people live, according to state reports. On Wednesday, more than 3,500 people remained evacuated in Guantanamo while crews began to repair damaged roads and bridges in the area. Authorities in Haiti said one person is missing and two were injured following heavy flooding in the country&#39;s southwest and northwest regions. Hurricane Humberto, which had been racing ahead of Imelda, dissipated on Wednesday after passing west of Bermuda on Tuesday. Its remnants were named Storm Amy by UK forecasters, who warned it would affect much of Ireland and the UK starting Friday. Beaches hit by dangerous swellsImelda and Humberto&#39;s remnants were generating dangerous surf and deadly rip currents affecting beaches along the north Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and much of the US East Coast. At least five unoccupied houses along North Carolina&rsquo;s Outer Banks collapsed into the ocean on Tuesday, according to the US National Park Service, marking the latest private beachfront structures to fall into the surf there in recent years. This Atlantic hurricane season marks the first time in 10 years that a hurricane hasn&#39;t made landfall in the US through the end of September, according to AccuWeather, a private US weather forecasting company. &ldquo;This hurricane season so far is quite unique, with several close calls for the United States,&rdquo; said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather&rsquo;s lead hurricane expert. Only Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall in the US earlier this year. He noted Humberto pulled Imelda away from the US East Coast in what is known as the Fujiwhara Effect, a rare phenomenon in the Atlantic in which two storms are so close together that they start rotating counterclockwise around each other. Humberto and Imelda were a mere 467 miles (751 kilometers) apart earlier this week, the closest distance recorded between two Atlantic hurricanes since 1853, according to Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert. While the Atlantic hurricane season is winding down, DaSilva urged people to remain alert. &ldquo;We expect atmospheric conditions that could support tropical storms and hurricanes well into late October and November this year,&rdquo; he said.Hurricane&nbsp;Imelda reached hurricane strength on Tuesday, becoming the Atlantic season&rsquo;s fourth hurricane this year. Th<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: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">e US&nbsp;National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which pack winds of 111 mph (178 kph) or greater. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Natural Disaster

Hurricane Imelda struck Bermuda with 100 mph (160 kph) winds, flooding, and power outages, after deadly impacts in Cuba and Haiti. The storm, alongside Humberto, also caused dangerous surf along the US East Coast.

Articles tagged with "Cuba"

How Cuba was blindsided by the operation to capture Maduro

Hurricane Imelda descends on Bermuda with damaging wind and waves