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’s revered intelligence services, experts say.Fearful of betrayal by dissenters within Venezuela’s ranks, the leftist Maduro — like his late mentor Hugo Chavez — sourced his security detail in communist-ruled Cuba.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’s air defenses.Of the 32 Cubans killed – along with 23 Venezuelan troops — 21 were from the Cuban interior ministry, which oversees the intelligence services, officials said.The remaining 11 were from Cuba’s military.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.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.Cuban intelligence “convinced the Maduro regime and its security agencies that the United States would never attack on Venezuelan territory,” Arocha said.Former US intelligence officer Fulton Armstrong, who is now a Latin America researcher at American University in Washington, also pointed to intelligence failures.Chief among them, he said, was the failure to anticipate the attack and then to detect helicopters entering Venezuela’s airspace.”Even a five- or 10-minute warning would have made a massive difference for the guards and for Maduro,” the former CIA agent said.US forces however had a major advantage in the form of stealth drones, used to monitor the Venezuelan leader’s movements in real time, as well as more advanced weapons and combat gear.Paul Hare, a former British ambassador to Cuba and Venezuela, argued that Cuban intelligence underestimated US access to “insider cooperation in Venezuela” — an informant within Maduro’s camp.Citing sources close to the operation, The New York Times reported that a CIA source within the Venezuelan government revealed Maduro’s location.The United States had issued a reward of $50 million for information leading to his capture.- Aura of invincibility – For decades, the Cuban secret service, trained during the Soviet era by the KGB, enjoyed a reputation for invincibility.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.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.But Cuba “didn’t adequately read the Trump administration,” said Arocha, noting that the administration’s National Security Strategy unveiled in December clearly articulated Trump’s goal of asserting US dominance over Latin America.Washington had regularly denounced Cuba’s role, since the 2000s, in the Venezuelan security apparatus.The routine response from Caracas and Havana was that Cuba, in return for Venezuelan oil supplies, provided its ally with doctors and humanitarian workers. Arocha argued that “so many years… doing the same thing successfully” blinded the Cubans to Trump’s willingness to defy diplomacy and international law, so they did not see him coming.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.”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,” Arocha said.

Local officials in Minneapolis slammed federal agencies Friday for excluding them from the probe into an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a woman, as public outrage grew ahead of planned weekend protests.Officials in the midwestern state of Minnesota said their law enforcement agencies have been excluded from the investigation into the killing of motorist Renee Good, 37, by a federal immigration officer on Wednesday.A local prosecutor said Friday that federal investigators had taken Good’s car and shell casings from the scene.The Trump administration has sought to paint the victim as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense.Cell phone footage apparently taken by the officer who fired the fatal shots shows him interacting with Good as he approaches and circles her car, and her saying, “I’m not mad at you.”After he passes in front of the car, another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out.The agent filming the video can be heard saying “fucking bitch” at the end of the clip.The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defense — even though the clip does not show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire. “This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law…the fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a briefing on Friday. “We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, within its department of public safety, has consistently run such investigations.”Why not include them in the process?” Frey said.On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance said that the ICE officer, named in US media as Jonathan Ross, had “absolute immunity” — a claim disputed by local prosecutors.Court filings seen by AFP showed that in June 2025, Ross was dragged 100 yards (meters) along a road by a car driven by a man who was the subject of immigration enforcement activity.”When the FBI, when the federal agencies, say they won’t share evidence with the local authorities, the public can’t trust that it’s going to be a true, transparent investigation,” said local Patrick O’Shaughnessy, 43.- ‘Get out’ -Minnesota officials have said that local investigators were initially invited by the FBI to participate in the inquiry into the shooting of Good, but were subsequently blocked from taking part.Good was one of four people who have been killed by ICE since Trump launched his immigration crackdown. Good’s wife Becca Good told local media that they had gone to the scene of immigration enforcement activity to “support our neighbors.””We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.Local prosecutor Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, said “our goal must be that a thorough investigation is completed at the local level.””The FBI currently has, for example, Ms Good’s car, the shell casings and witness interviews.”Moriarty unveiled an online evidence portal, calling for submissions so that all available leads could be compiled.The divide between local and federal authorities widened Friday when US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins suspended the payment of $129.2 million in federal financial agriculture awards, according to a letter she posted to X.Federal authorities have openly clashed with Minnesota officials over allegations that Somali immigrants have committed large-scale fraud to extract public benefit funds, with Rollins accusing local officials of turning “a blind eye” to the problem. Protest action continued Friday with hundreds gathering at a federal facility that has become a focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations with at least one detention seen.Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas clashed with the noisy crowd.There were some 1,000 weekend protest gatherings planned across the United States, according to organizers.