The capture, arrest, and transfer of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in the early morning of January 3, 2026, to New York by U.S. military forces raises questions about the future of the Venezuelan regime.
The presence of military and intelligence personnel from the Cuban dictatorship was confirmed during Maduro’s capture, where Cuban military and intelligence officials died defending the Venezuelan dictator.
Havana identified 32 Cuban fighters killed when US forces extracted the Venezuelan strong man from Venezuela.
The Center for a Free Cuba’s executive director took part in two interviews exploring the aftermath of Maduro’s capture, and the implications for the dictatorships in Caracas and Havana.
The 46 minute interview broadcast by NTD News premiered on January 16, 2026
The second interview was 27 minutes long and broadcast by Al Jazeera English. It featured CFC’s executive director, Michael Shifter – senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue and an adjunct professor of Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, and Liz Oliva Fernandez, self-described “independent Cuban journalist” in Havana for US-based media outlet, Belly of the Beast.