Venezuela’s Ministry of Defense announced that a total of 83 people were killed in the US abduction attack on President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said nine women were among the 47 Venezuelan soldiers killed when the United States attacked the capital Caracas and abducted President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
The defense minister announced Friday that a total of 83 people were killed in the Jan. 3 U.S. attack, raising the death toll for Venezuelan troops from an initially reported 23.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Those killed included 32 Cuban soldiers, some of whom were assigned to President Maduro’s personal security team.
“What have the men and women of our Bolivarian Armed Forces done in the face of military aggression? They have given their lives and respected our history and our homeland,” Padrino said at a ceremony commemorating those killed in the attack.
The minister also said that a place would be found to build a memorial to those killed.
Cuba on Thursday received the remains of 32 soldiers said to have died in combat in the early morning hours of January 3rd.
More than 112 people were reported injured in the U.S. attack, which began with bombing military targets and culminated with U.S. troops landing in helicopters and abducting Mr. Maduro and his wife, Syria Flores, from their Caracas home.
The full extent of civilian casualties from the U.S. attack is not yet known by Venezuelan authorities. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said earlier this week that experts needed to conduct DNA tests to identify the victims, some of whom were blown “to pieces” in the US attack.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who ordered seven days of mourning for those killed in the US attack, met in Caracas on Thursday with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who played a key role in Maduro’s abduction, the Associated Press reported.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that Ratcliffe discussed the possibility of economic cooperation between the two countries and warned that Venezuela could never again tolerate the presence of U.S. adversaries, including drug traffickers.
“The Emperor in the White House”
Tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in Havana on Friday, denouncing the attack on Venezuela that killed 32 Cuban soldiers.
A rally organized by the Cuban government drew crowds to the anti-imperialist José Martí open-air plaza, across from the US diplomatic residence.
One protester, Rene Gonzalez, 64, said the United States is “ruled by a president who thinks he’s the emperor.”
“We have to show him that ideas are more valuable than weapons,” he said.
After shaking hands with demonstrators, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel gave a speech in which he said the U.S. government had “opened the door to an era of barbarism, plunder and neo-fascism.”
“Nobody surrenders here,” Diaz-Canel said. “The current White House czar and his infamous Secretary of State have never stopped threatening me.”
“Cuba does not have to make any political concessions, and that will never come to the negotiating table aimed at reaching an agreement between Cuba and the United States,” he said.
“It is important that you understand this. We are always open to dialogue and improved relations between our two countries, but only on equal terms and based on mutual respect,” he added.
US President Donald Trump recently called on Cuba to reach a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what the deal was or what would happen beyond the deadline.
President Trump also stated that Cuba would no longer survive on Venezuela’s oil reserves, and the US president has repeatedly stated that the oil reserves now belong to the United States.
Havana is highly dependent on Venezuelan oil, and experts have warned that running out of supplies could have devastating consequences for cash-strapped Cuba, which is already suffering from severe power outages and years of U.S. sanctions.
Friday’s demonstration in Havana was organized a day after tens of thousands of Cubans gathered at the military ministry headquarters in the capital to pay their respects to the 32 slain officers whose bodies arrived from Venezuela.
