Cuba says 32 citizens killed in U.S. raid to arrest Venezuela’s Maduro
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel gives a speech while flying the Venezuelan national flag in support of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after US forces captured it in Havana on January 3, 2026. U.S. forces have captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said Saturday, after U.S. forces bombed the capital Caracas and other cities in a dramatic climax to a months-long feud between Trump and his Venezuelan nemesis. (Photo: ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP via Getty Images)
Adalberto Roque | Afp | Getty Images
Cuba announced on Monday that 32 of its citizens were killed in clashes during the US raid on Venezuela.
It was reported that most of his security team was killed in the raid on Saturday, when US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and took him to New York.
The Cubans were performing tasks on behalf of the Cuban Armed Forces and the ministry of interior, the country’s presidential office. he said on facebook.
According to the translation made on Facebook, the statement said, “Our citizens, faithful to their responsibilities regarding security and defense, fulfilled their duties honorably and heroically and entered into direct conflict against the attackers after a fierce resistance or as a result of the bombing of facilities.” It was said.
Cuba also called the US strikes “a criminal attack and an act of state terrorism” and said the Cuban government would commemorate those killed.
The US strikes came after weeks of military buildup in the region and US President Donald Trump’s threats against Maduro.
Following the raid, Trump said the United States would govern Venezuela “until we can make a safe, appropriate and reasonable transition.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US will use the power it will gain from the oil blockade of the country and the regional military structure to achieve its policy goals.
“We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.
Rubio also said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that the United States has a “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil.
“This means their economy cannot move forward until the national interests of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met, and that is what we plan to do,” he added.
The United States has seized tankers bound for the country and moved military ships and warplanes to the Caribbean in recent months.
— CNBC’s Garrett Downs contributed to this report.
