Cuba's economically strapped government is closely watching Sunday's recall referendum in Venezuela, which could deprive it of vital oil supplies and its staunchest ally in Latin America. But Cuban officials are confident Venezuelan voters will back their populist President Hugo Chavez, who has forged a strategic alliance with Havana and a close friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The two leaders' anti-American rhetoric and left-wing policies have been denounced by the Bush administration as a Cuban-style communist takeover in the making in oil-rich Venezuela, a major U.S. supplier. Cuba experts say the loss of oil shipments on preferential terms with deferred payment would worsen Cuba's cash crunch and halt its recovery from the economic melt-down suffered a decade ago after the demise of the Soviet Union. --MORE 2304 Local Time 2004 GMT
