Cuban security advisers and doctors are departing Venezuela as Interim President Delcy Rodriguez's government faces intense US pressure to dismantle Latin America's most consequential leftist alliance, according to 11 sources. Rodriguez has replaced Cuban bodyguards with Venezuelan ones, a shift not previously reported. Thirty-two Cubans died in the January 3 US operation capturing Maduro, part of a deep security pact begun in the late 2000s where Cuban intelligence embedded within Venezuela's military and DGCIM counterintelligence unit, crucial for suppressing opposition. 'The Cuban influence was absolutely essential' to the Chavista government's survival, says NYU historian Alejandro Velasco.

Some Cuban advisers have been removed from posts, while others may be departing voluntarily or summoned home by Havana. The decision aligns with US President Trump's vow to end the Venezuela-Cuba security relationship, a core part of Washington's strategy to topple Havana's communist government. The US has blockaded Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, economically strangling the island.

While Rodriguez maintains public solidarity with Cuba, she is 'treading very carefully' according to a former US ambassador, aiming to distance herself without fully alienating Havana until her hold on power is secure.