Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro traveled to Cuba on August 15 to visit the tomb of former Cuban revolutionary and dictator, Fidel Castro.

Broadcast on the nation’s public television, Maduro and his wife placed flowers and bowed their heads in respect to the man who helped turn Cuba into the first one-party, socialist state in the Western Hemisphere.

Today, Venezuela stands on the edge of collapse. Its economy is in tatters, and food and medicine are running low. Citizens are rioting in the streets and clashing with the Maduro government. Venezuelans are suffering state-sanctioned killings and rampant drug cartel activity; they are also facing the possibility of a military coup. This is the context for Maduro making a special point to pay homage to Castro.

This visit was especially surprising considering the recent threats of military action coming out of the White House. Why did Venezuela’s president choose now as the time to make such a provocative act?

Maduro show of open respect toward the deceased Cuban radical is a statement to both Cuba and the world that Venezuela is willing to march to the tune of its northern neighbor’s drum.

In the last few years, it has become clear that Cuba’s best interests lie in keeping the failing Venezuela afloat. Its reasons are twofold: First, it has used Venezuela for decades as a “corridor to run Colombian cocaine to the U.S. and to Africa to supply Europe,” according to Mary O’Grady from the Wall Street Journal; second, Cuba relies heavily on subsidized petroleum from Venezuela’s vast reserves. Without Venezuela’s cut-price oil, Cuba’s economy would be severely impacted.

Thus, as long as Venezuela follows in step with Cuba’s lead, Castro’s successor (his brother, Raúl) has lent his country’s aid in the unfolding political nightmare. “As the crisis in Venezuela worsens, Cuba continues to throw its support behind the government in Caracas,” Astrid Prange wrote for Deutsche Welle.

The new Constitutional Assembly put in place by President Maduro has made Venezuela’s government extremely unpopular both internationally and at home. This state-ordered assembly grants the government power to rewrite the constitution, effectively paving the way for Maduro to waive the need to be reelected. Many in the international community have harshly criticized this move, yet Cuba is still offering Maduro strong support. Cuba appears to be leveraging that continued support in order to cause Venezuela to fall into line. Prange asked the question, “How much influence does Havana hold over President Nicolás Maduro?”

As the situation stands currently, Venezuela is one step away from a full military coup. But Cuba is taking steps to prevent it. In an article titled “Cuba’s Proxy War in Venezuela,” O’Grady reported:

More than a dozen high-ranking Cuban officers are said to be in Venezuela, along with thousands of Cuban intelligence agents. Their job is to keep the Venezuelan army officers under constant surveillance to prevent the feared military uprising to restore democracy.

More recently, O’Grady reported that for every Venezuelan officer, there is at least one Cuban “minder” watching over his or her shoulder for signs of sedition.

Such mistrust and oversight seem like tactics ripped from the pages of a dystopian novel. Yet Cuban influence does not end there.

Lately, groups of protesters have been subjected to horrendous beatings by mobs of government-sponsored ruffians. O’Grady wrote:

The idea of using civilian thugs to beat up Venezuelan protesters comes from Havana …. Castro used them in the 1950s, when he was opposing Batista, to intimidate his allies who didn’t agree with his strategy. Today in Cuba, they remain the standard fare to carry out “acts of repudiation” against dissidents.

Venezuela’s government appears to be using the same counterrevolutionary tactics of its northern benefactor, which indicates a maniacal cooperation between the two nations.

This situation is ominous—not just for the future of Central America, but also for the citizens of the United States. Cuba’s close involvement in the affairs of other Central and South American countries is a dangerous scenario. Cuba has posed a significant threat to the U.S. for the last 50 years.

In his November 2015 article “Cuba: A Threat to America,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry outlined the reason why this haven for Marxism and tyranny should be watched with extreme care. He noted how communism is one of the greatest threats to the American way of life and to the literal survival of the nation and its inhabitants. Although the Cold War is over, Cuba still holds the same ideals that carried it through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. Mr. Flurry wrote:

You need to beware of what is happening in Cuba! This is a dangerous world. America is like a silly dove walking right into a deadly trap. Cuba isn’t dead. Communism isn’t dead. And Cuba is reemerging as a clear and present danger to the very existence of the United States!

For more information on why you need to watch the events happening in Central America today, read Gerald Flurry’s article “Cuba: A Threat to America.”