Havana announces 32 Cubans killed during US military operation in Venezuela
The Cuban government said on Sunday that 32 of its citizens had been killed in a US military offensive on Venezuela that ended with the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
The Cuban government issued a statement stating that as a result of the criminal attack launched by the Government of the United States against the sisterly Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela… 32 Cubans lost their lives in the fighting”.
It noted that the dead military personnel, all members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces or the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, were on missions in Venezuela at the request of their counterparts in that country, declaring a two-day national mourning.
The statement added that these soldiers carried out their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of shelling.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X: “Honor and glory to the brave Cuban fighters who fell while confronting terrorists dressed in imperial uniforms”.
Trump had earlier confirmed that a large number of Cubans had been killed during the US military operation on Caracas.
Cuba and Venezuela have enjoyed close relations since the late 1990s and Hugo Chavez’s rise to power (1999-2013).
In 2002, a coup attempt against Venezuela’s president prompted Cuba to intervene in the country’s military affairs to consolidate his power.
Venezuela is Cuba’s main oil supplier, in exchange for medical personnel.
Donald Trump, who has made no secret of the United States’ interest in Venezuela’s oil reserves, also stated that Cuba is on the verge of falling.
For the past five years, the island has been mired in a deep economic crisis punctuated by severe shortages of foreign currency and fuel and frequent power cuts, as a result of US sanctions, structural weaknesses in its central economy and the collapse of the tourism sector.
