"On Havana's Fifth Avenue, where the trees and lawns remain elegantly groomed even as the rest of Cuba wilts, a billboard outside the Venezuelan embassy reads: Hasta Siempre Comandante (Until For Ever, Commander) next to a vast picture of a smiling Hugo Chavez. It is a staunch declaration that the two nations are bound together for ever. But this week, after the US operation to grab Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, those ties are in danger of unravelling."
"Havana has traditionally been shy about admitting its security and intelligence support of the Maduro regime, but it has had to acknowledge 32 Cubans died in the US military attack on Venezuela. Family members of the dead mourned their relatives on social media. Many of the posts swiftly disappeared and have not been authenticated, but an example is the aunt of a 26-year-old interior ministry security officer named Fernando Baez Hidalgo,"
A prominent Havana billboard and other symbols show a deep Cuba–Venezuela bond built on ideological and material ties. The US operation targeting Venezuela's leadership has put that bond at severe risk and prompted urgent questions in Cuba about surviving a potential withdrawal of Venezuelan support. Cuban public debate centers on economic vulnerability, whether Havana can or will negotiate with the US, and the prospect of domestic change. Havana acknowledged that 32 Cubans died in the US military attack on Venezuela, and family responses on social media have surfaced alongside nationalistic historical references.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]