Trump government issues warning to Havana, which has lost key ally in its struggle with blackouts and fuel shortages

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Dr Ifraín Pérez had been checking the news on his phone since the early hours. All day, the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, had been the main subject of conversation in his neighbourhood in Havana. “It’s really pretty unpleasant news – for Cuba and the world,” he said late on Saturday.

Pérez, 62, served twice in Venezuela as part of Cuban medical missions, from 2005 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2016. “I’m worried because I know many Venezuelans. I have a great affinity with that people because of what I lived through with them,” he said.