It's no longer just doctors, nurses and teachers. Cuba now sends Venezuela troops to train its military, and computer experts to work on its passport and identification-card systems.
Critics fear that what is portrayed by both countries as a friendship committed to countering U.S. influence in the region is in fact growing into far more. They see a seasoned authoritarian government helping President Hugo Chavez to protect his power through Cuban-style controls, in exchange for oil. The Cuban government routinely spies on dissidents and maintains tight controls on information and travel.
Cubans are involved in Venezuelan defense and communications systems to the point that they would know how to run both in a crisis, said Antonio Rivero, a former brigadier general whose break with Chavez over the issue has grabbed national attention.
"They've crossed a line," Rivero said in a May interview. "They've gone beyond what should be permitted and what an alliance should be."
Hugo Chavez has seemed to have ambitions to replace Castro as the Western Hemisphere's leftist leader.
But could the Cubans be making sure that Cubans pull the strings of Fidel Castro's "heir" after Fidel dies?
