No Cuban troops in Venezuela, Cuban diplomat

A top Cuban diplomat says his nation has no troops in Venezuela but maintains the right to military and intelligence co-operation with its ally.

U.S. accusations that Cuba has more than 20,000 troops and intelligence agents in Venezuela are false, Carlos Fernández de Cossío told The Associated Press in Washington on Wednesday.

In Cuba’s most detailed remarks to date on the U.S. allegations, de Cossío said virtually all of the Cubans in Venezuela are medical workers.

“There are no troops,” he said. “Cuba does not participate in military operations, nor in security operations in Venezuela.”

While he denied Cuban boots are on the ground, he said he could not deny intelligence co-operation because “I don’t have that information.” Broader intelligence or military co-operation would be “totally legitimate,” he said.