HAVANA(National Times)- Cuban officials on Monday lowered flags before dawn to mourn 32 security officers they say were killed in the U.S. weekend strike in Venezuela, the island nation\u2019s closest ally, as residents here wonder what the capture of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro means for their future. The two governments are so close that Cuban soldiers and security agents were often the Venezuelan president\u2019s bodyguards, and Venezuela\u2019s petroleum has kept the economically ailing island limping along for years. Cuban authorities over the weekend said the 32 had been killed in the surprise attack \u201cafter fierce resistance in direct combat against the attackers, or as a result of the bombing of the facilities.\u201d The Trump administration has warned outright that toppling Maduro will help advance another decades-long goal: Dealing a blow to the Cuban government. Severing Cuba from Venezuela could have disastrous consequences for its leaders, who on Saturday called for the international community to stand up to \u201cstate terrorism.\u201d On Saturday, Trump said the ailing Cuban economy will be further battered by Maduro\u2019s ouster. \u201cIt\u2019s going down,\u201d Trump said of Cuba. \u201cIt\u2019s going down for the count.\u201d Many observers say Cuba, an island of about 10 million people, exerted a remarkable degree of influence over Venezuela, an oil-rich nation with three times as many people. At the same time, Cubans have long been tormented by constant blackouts and shortages of basic foods. And after the attack, they woke to the once-unimaginable possibility of an even grimmer future. \u201cI can\u2019t talk. I have no words,\u201d 75-year-old Berta Luz Sierra Molina said as she sobbed and placed a hand over her face. Even though 63-year-old Regina M\u00e9ndez is too old to join the Cuban military, she said that \u201cwe have to stand strong.\u201d \u201cGive me a rifle, and I\u2019ll go fight,\u201d M\u00e9ndez said. Maduro\u2019s government was shipping an average of 35,000 barrels of oil daily over the last three months, about a quarter of total demand, said Jorge Pi\u00f1\u00f3n, a Cuban energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute. \u201cThe question to which we don\u2019t have an answer, which is critical: Is the U.S. going to allow Venezuela to continue supplying Cuba with oil?\u201d he said. Pi\u00f1\u00f3n noted that Mexico once supplied Cuba with 22,000 barrels of oil a day before it dropped to 7,000 barrels after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City in early September \u201cI don\u2019t see Mexico jumping in right now,\u201d Pi\u00f1\u00f3n said. \u201cThe U.S. government would go bonkers.\u201d Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist at American University in Washington, said that \u201cblackouts have been significant, and that is with Venezuela still sending some oil.\u201d \u201cImagine a future now in the short term losing that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a catastrophe.\u201d Pi\u00f1\u00f3n noted that Cuba doesn\u2019t have the money to buy oil on the international market. \u201cThe only ally that they have left out there with oil is Russia,\u201d he said, noting that it sends Cuba about 2 million barrels a year. \u201cRussia has the capability to fill the gap. Do they have the political commitment, or the political desire to do so? I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. Torres also questioned whether Russia would extend a hand. \u201cMeddling with Cuba could jeopardize your negotiation with the U.S. around Ukraine. Why would you do it? Ukraine is far more important,\u201d he said. Torres said Cuba should open its doors to the private sector and market and reduce its public sector, moves that could help prompt China to step in and help Cuba. \u201cDo they have an alternative? I don\u2019t think they do,\u201d he said. On Monday, Trump told NBC News in an interview that the U.S. government could reimburse oil companies making investments in Venezuela to maintain and increase oil production in that country. He suggested that the necessary rebuilding of the country\u2019s neglected infrastructure for extracting and shipping oil could happen in less than 18 months. \u201cI think we can do it in less time than that, but it\u2019ll be a lot of money,\u201d Trump said. \u201cA tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they\u2019ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HAVANA(National Times)- Cuban officials on Monday lowered flags before dawn to mourn 32 security officers they say were killed in the U.S. weekend strike in Venezuela, the island nation\u2019s closest ally, as residents here wonder what the capture of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro means for their future. The two governments are so close that Cuban soldiers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n