Trumpets and drums marked a solemn ceremony in Havana on Thursday as Cuban soldiers marched out of a plane carrying urns with the remains of 32 Cuban officers killed in what Cuba described as a U.S. attack tied to a raid on Venezuela.
Thousands of people lined one of Havana’s best-known streets to await the bodies, with many watching from outside in a heavy downpour. The soldiers’ shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, where the urns were placed on a long table next to pictures of those killed. Tens of thousands paid their respects, saluting the urns or holding their hand over their heart as the ceremony took place.
The mass funeral was organized as one of the few similar ceremonies the Cuban government has held over the past half-century, according to the Associated Press report. The soldiers were described as part of the security detail for Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro during a Jan. 3 raid on his residence meant to seize a former leader and bring him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
State television also showed images it said were of more than a dozen wounded combatants from the raid, and it showed Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving from Venezuela on Wednesday night. A man identified in state media as Col. Pedro Yadín Domínguez attended Thursday’s ceremony in a wheelchair.
Yadín said the attack was a “disproportionate attack” that killed 11 colleagues around him as they slept, and he said he was committed to doing “whatever it takes to defend this people and to remain united in the face of threats from the United States.” Cuba’s state narrative framed the deaths as part of escalating tensions with Washington, which has pressed Havana to strike a deal with President Donald Trump before it is “too late,” without specifying what kind of deal.
At the airport, President Miguel Díaz-Canel stood silent in military garb next to former President Raúl Castro while officials unfurled a massive flag. Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas called the slain soldiers “heroes” of an anti-imperialist struggle spanning Cuba and Venezuela, contrasting what he said the “enemy” emphasizes—“high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy”—with what Cuba speaks of, including “faces” and “families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”
Álvarez said the “enemy” could not buy the “dignity of the Cuban people.” Carmen Gómez, an industrial designer among the crowd, said the fallen officers were “people willing to defend their principles and values,” and said, “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
Officials said they expected a large demonstration Friday across from the U.S. Embassy to protest the deaths. Analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press that “People are upset and hurt … many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States.
The repatriation also arrived as the United States announced additional disaster-recovery aid for Cuba. The AP report said the remains arrived a day after Washington announced $3 million in additional aid to help the island recover from Hurricane Melissa, with the first aid flight taking off on Wednesday and a second flight scheduled for Friday and a commercial vessel set to deliver food and other supplies.
U.S. State Department foreign assistance official Jeremy Lewin said Thursday the United States was working with Cuba’s Catholic Church to distribute aid and warned Cuba not to intervene or divert supplies. He said, “There’s nothing political about cans of tuna and rice and beans and pasta,” and added that Washington would be “watching” and would hold Cuba “accountable,” while telling Cuba’s government it has a choice to “Step down or better provide towards people.” Cuban Foreign Minister Rodríguez said the U.S. government was “exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes.”