Managua removes Cuba and Venezuela from its 2027 military cooperation framework
The measure also excludes reciprocal troop travel; it does not explain the reasons and retains permits for other countries.
Nicaragua's authorization for the entry of military personnel, ships and aircraft during the first half of 2027 does not include Cuba or Venezuela. The measure, contained in presidential decree 13-2026, also excludes the deployment of Nicaraguan personnel to those two destinations, a bilateral practice maintained since 2020. This is the first time since that year that both countries have been left outside the framework.
The text was published October 29 in Nicaragua's Official Gazette. It retains permits for Russia, China, the United States and Mexico, along with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The decree does not explain why Cuba and Venezuela no longer appear among authorized countries, so its reasons are not established in the measure.
Authorization records for 2020-2026 total 700 Cuban military personnel sent to Nicaragua, 50 per six-month period for activities described as humanitarian. During the same period, Venezuela sent at least 2,190 personnel. The suspension therefore affects an exchange that included both personnel arriving in Nicaragua and Nicaraguan military travel to Havana and Caracas.
A security specialist consulted anonymously connected the change with both countries' internal circumstances. Regarding Cuba, the expert said the economic crisis might lead authorities to keep military and Interior Ministry forces available to respond to possible unrest. That is the specialist's interpretation, not an explanation offered by the decree.
Regarding Venezuela, the analyst associated the absence of personnel with the military reorganization after Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026. The expert considered that situation a possible explanation for concentrating resources inside the country and warned that the exclusion does not necessarily mean a formal break with Managua. Russia, meanwhile, retains authorization for 180 military personnel during the first six months of 2027; permitted Russian personnel from 2020 through that period total at least 2,280.