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\"Russia and Cuba are both complicit in Venezuela's descent into dictatorship, but Cuba is particularly influential in supporting Maduro,\" Faller wrote in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. \"Following the Cuban government’s advice and assisted by its intelligence machinery, Maduro is adhering to the autocratic blueprint Cuban leaders have ruthlessly executed for over six decades.\"

Piccone warned that even if Maduro transitions out of power, the Venezuelan military won't \"suddenly become pro-American overnight.\"

\"It's going to take some time for that to happen,\" he said.

The next anti-Maduro protest in Venezuela is scheduled for Tuesday.

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