Manny Ita
HAVANA — The Cuban government confirmed Sunday that 32 of its military and police officers were killed during a United States military operation in Venezuela over the weekend. The announcement, delivered via a statement on Cuban state television, marks the first official casualty count from the Havana administration following the American strikes.
According to Cuban authorities, the officers were stationed in the South American nation at the formal request of President Nicolás Maduro’s government. While the specific nature of their deployment was not detailed in the broadcast, the statement emphasized that the personnel were “faithful to their responsibilities for security and defense.”
The Cuban government further stated that their 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.” In response to the losses, President Miguel Díaz-Canel and former leader Raúl Castro declared two days of national mourning.
The American operation on Saturday resulted in the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who face a U.S. indictment on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump addressed the scale of the engagement.
“You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday,” the President stated. “There was a lot of death on the other side. No death on our side.”
The presence of Cuban forces in Venezuela has long been a point of contention for Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the Cuban personnel as the backbone of Maduro’s survival strategy.
“All the guards that help protect Maduro — this is well known — their whole spy agency, all that were full of Cubans,” Rubio said, adding that the internal security apparatus was “propping up Maduro.”
While Caracas has acknowledged fatalities resulting from the American strikes, officials have yet to provide a confirmed total of Venezuelan casualties. Secretary Rubio further indicated that while the U.S. does not intend to govern Venezuela, it will maintain pressure for systemic change through a continued oil blockade.
