The deaths confirmed the breadth of Cuba’s longstanding military presence in Venezuela, where Cuban forces have assisted in operations for years as close allies of President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The same U.S. operation on Saturday resulted in the seizure of Maduro and his wife to face prosecution on an indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Cuba’s government said Sunday that 32 Cuban military and police officers were killed in a U.S. military operation in Venezuela the previous day, providing the first official death count from American strikes in the South American nation. The officers were on a mission the Cuban military was carrying out at the request of Venezuela’s government, according to a statement read on Cuban state television Sunday night.
Cuba’s government announced two days of mourning for the dead. Former president and revolutionary leader Raúl Castro and President Miguel Díaz-Canel sent condolences to the families of the officers who were killed. The names of the dead and the positions they held were not immediately disclosed by Cuban authorities.
“Faithful to their responsibilities for security and defense, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell after fierce resistance in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombings of the facilities,” the official Cuban statement said.
Operation context
The same U.S. military operation on Saturday seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to face prosecution on an indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy. Venezuela’s government acknowledged that a number of people died in the American strikes but did not confirm how many were killed to the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump confirmed the Cuban death toll to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew Sunday night from Florida back to Washington. “You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday,” Trump said. “There was a lot of death on the other side. No death on our side.”
What the Cuban officers were specifically working on in Venezuela was not made clear by either government. Cuba has long been a close ally of Venezuela’s government and has sent military and police forces to assist in operations in the country for years. Rumors of the deaths had circulated on the island over the weekend before Sunday’s official announcement.
Rubio cites Cuban role
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said Sunday that Maduro’s internal security apparatus had been headed by Cubans who were “propping up Maduro.”
“All the guards that help protect Maduro — this is well known — their whole spy agency, all that were full of Cubans,” Rubio said.