For more than a decade, Nicolás Maduro lived in a “human fortress” that was so advanced it appeared to be beyond the grasp of the world’s superpowers.
He was not lucky, though; in fact, the whole situation was a result of a complex, paranoid security architecture aimed at surprise elimination where the very concept of surprise was non-existent.
Like a military’s elite loyalty with foreign intelligence, the whole security system that surrounded him was strong enough to isolate him from the numerous harms that were both internal and external threats until his dramatic U.S. forces capture in early 2026.
Presidential Honor Guard Loyalty
The Presidential Honor Guard (Guardia de Honor Presidencial), a brigade-sized elite unit that included 2,000 carefully selected members from all military branches, was the first line of defense.
This unit, unlike the regular troops, was attached to the president directly and thus avoided any potential for military coups through the convenient routing of the military chain. Along with the Miraflores Palace and the secure Fuerte Tiuna military complex, these guards maintained a physical shield at all times.
Maduro was determined to crack the loyalty of his armed forces by employing a “coup-proofing” tactic, whereby he offered the top officers the monopoly over the state resources, hence making their lives and wealth literally dependent on the continued existence of his dictatorship.
Cuban Intelligence Supervision
The Cuban Intelligence (DI) presence, which was pretty much everywhere, made up the second more secretive layer, and it was the “brain” of the whole security system.
The Cuban intelligence operatives, numbering in thousands, were working inside the Venezuelan intelligence services, particularly in the SEBIN and DGCIM, to keep an eye on the dissent inside and to pass over the potential traitors. The experts were the ones who determined Maduro’s “pattern of life,” and they did so by often changing his sleeping places and putting in place strict electronic silence.
Even in the last months of the crisis, Maduro was always accompanied by the “phone-less” Cuban agents who were there to protect him from being located by GPS. This foreign-controlled spying network made sure that no matter how small a revolt was, it would not be allowed to get as far as the palace gates.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
