Havana witnessed solemn processions as Cuba received the remains of 32 military and security personnel killed during recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela. The soldiers, who served as protection officers for Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, perished during the January 3rd raid in Caracas that resulted in Maduro’s extraction to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
The Venezuelan government reports over 100 casualties during the operation, marking the deadliest incident for Cuban combatants since the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. The fallen soldiers’ remains arrived in Havana for formal military ceremonies, where they will be honored at the Ministry of the Armed Forces before public viewings and subsequent burials across the island.
In response to the incident, protests are scheduled outside the U.S. embassy in Havana on Friday. The confrontation has intensified geopolitical tensions, with President Donald Trump maintaining pressure on Cuba by announcing that Venezuela’s interim government under Delcy Rodríguez would cease oil exports to the island nation.
This energy cutoff represents a severe blow to Cuba’s already strained economy, which has been grappling with acute shortages and depends heavily on Venezuelan petroleum. The Cuban government has vowed to resist Washington’s pressure and economic embargo, though citizens express growing concerns about worsening electricity shortages and food scarcity amid escalating hostilities with the United States.
The U.S. military intervention included air strikes supporting elite units that targeted Maduro’s compound, significantly altering the regional power dynamics and testing the decades-old alliance between Cuba and Venezuela.