Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba Calls for Removal of Cubans from Venezuela
MIAMI (Tuesday, January 6, 2026) — The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) commends President Trump and the U.S. Armed Forces for their swift and courageous arrest of Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro, for his role in facilitating narcoterrorism and organized crime that has infiltrated the Western Hemisphere over the last two decades.
“Removing Maduro from office was a powerful first step in dismantling a multi-faceted narcoterrorism criminal network across the region and the globe,” said FHRC Chairman Tony Costa. “Now, Venezuela faces a defining test: will it fully reclaim its sovereignty and return to a democratic form of government, or will it remain colonized by the Cuban regime.”
The Cuban regime has used Venezuela as a financial and strategic lifeline for its own survival. Havana deployed tens of thousands of personnel through so-called “missions”—including doctors, teachers, engineers, and technical workers—that generated billions of dollars annually for the Cuban state. These missions were not humanitarian, rather they served as a revenue stream for the Cuban regime to survive by monetizing forced and coercive labor abroad.
“With the increasing national security threat the U.S. faces, we can’t stop short of the goal. Without dismantling Havana’s apparatus and removing all Cuban regime personnel, intelligence structures, and control mechanisms from Venezuela, there’s no hope for a meaningful transition. allow narco-terrorism and foreign domination to persist,” Costa said.
While the depth of Cuba’s arrangement with Venezuela has yet to be quantified publicly, Cuban officials did acknowledge that 32 Cuban nationals were killed during the January 2nd raid—a direct consequence of Cuban regime personnel being embedded inside Maduro’s personal security and intelligence structures.
The Cuban regime has used Venezuela as a financial and strategic lifeline for its own survival since the late 1990’s when Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro initiated a strategic partnership to expand a powerful narcoterrorism network around the globe. Since then, Havana has deployed thousands of personnel through so-called “missions”—including doctors, teachers, engineers, and technical workers—that generated billions of dollars annually for the Cuban state. These missions are not humanitarian; rather they serve as a revenue stream for the Cuban regime to survive by monetizing forced and coercive labor abroad.
In exchange for this steady flow of oil, cash, and resources, Cuban intelligence and military officers embed themselves inside Venezuela’s security state, sustaining Chavismo in power. Cuban intelligence penetrated Venezuela’s armed forces, counterintelligence, political police, and identity systems, constructing a foreign-controlled apparatus designed to make the regime coup-proof, suppress dissent, and protect a narco-terrorist system.
Credible documentation shows that more than 10,000 Cuban-controlled operators are deployed across Venezuela. Their role is not advisory—it is command and control. Cuba does not just support Venezuela; it runs Venezuela’s security architecture.
“There is no democratic transition without Cuban removal. There is no end to narco-terrorism while Cuban intelligence remains embedded. Venezuela cannot move forward unless the Cuban regime is fully expelled from its territory and institutions,” Costa said.
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