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The government of Havana reported this Sunday that 32 Cuban citizens died in the attacks carried out by US forces in Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday, which resulted in the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
“As a result of the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States government against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, (…) 32 Cubans lost their lives in combative actions, who were carrying out missions on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of counterpart bodies of the South American country,” said the government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, according to the official media Cubadebate.
“Faithful to their responsibilities with security and defense, our compatriots dignifiedly and heroically fulfilled their duty and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombing of the facilities,” the Cuban government said.
Díaz-Canel declared two days of mourning for the death of his compatriots during the US operation that culminated in the transfer of Maduro and his wife to New York, where this Monday they will appear before a judge to respond to charges of “narcoterrorism.”
Before this news was known, the Minister of Defense of Venezuela, General Vladimir Padrino López, had reported that most of the escorts and bodyguards who protected Maduro were “murdered in cold blood” by the US military who captured the Venezuelan ruler and his wife.
“The Bolivarian National Armed Forces strongly rejects the cowardly kidnapping of citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros, constitutional president of the Republic, our commander in chief, and his wife (…) an act perpetrated yesterday, Saturday, January 3, after a large part of his security team was murdered in cold blood: soldiers and innocent citizens,” said Padrino in a speech broadcast obligatorily on all national television and radio stations.
However, Padrino López did not offer any number of deaths or injuries due to the bombings launched by the United States against Venezuelan military and government facilities in Caracas and at least three states in the country.
Almost 48 hours after the attacks occurred, unprecedented in recent decades in Latin America, the only known death toll is the one offered by the Cuban government.
However, local media reported this Saturday at least 25 deaths, 15 of whom belonged to the Presidential Security Battalion number 6, the unit in charge of protecting the Venezuelan president and his family, according to the Caracas newspaper Tal Cual.
The American newspaper The New York Timesfor its part, indicated that the number of victims amounted to 80, citing Venezuelan officials who asked not to identify themselves.
BBC Mundo tried, without success, to obtain information from the Public Ministry and other government agencies.
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Image source, Pedro Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images
“Brutal aggression”
Padrino López took advantage of his speech to denounce not only the “brutal military aggression against our sovereignty” perpetrated by Washington, but also the “kidnapping” of Maduro and his wife.
“Yesterday they kidnapped the person that the people of Venezuela elected as their president. He is President Nicolás Maduro Moros, the constitutional president elected by the people for the period 2025-2031,” he said.
And immediately afterwards, he assured that Maduro is “the authentic and genuine constitutional leader of all Venezuelans.”
However, he announced the support of the military institution for the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which declared Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as “in charge” president of the country.
Rodríguez, who this Sunday headed her first council of ministers, will be sworn in as interim president this Monday before the National Assembly.
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