Cuban president says troopers fell defending ‘sovereignty of a sister nation’ amid escalating tensions with Washington.
Printed On 15 Jan 2026
Cuba has paid tribute to 32 of its troopers who have been killed in a United States assault on Venezuela earlier this month that led to the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro.
The stays of the troopers, who have been members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence businesses, arrived early on Thursday at Havana’s worldwide airport, in coffins draped within the Cuban flag.
Really helpful Tales
record of three objectsfinish of record
President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro, the 94-year-old retired former Cuban chief, have been current in full army uniform to obtain the stays.
Diaz-Canel hailed the troopers earlier this week, saying they “heroically fell in defence of the sovereignty of a sister nation”.
At Thursday’s occasion, Inside Minister Normal Lazaro Alberto Alvarez additionally expressed the nation’s gratitude for the troopers he mentioned had “fought to the final bullet” in the course of the US army’s January 3 assault on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
“We don’t obtain them with resignation; we achieve this with profound pleasure,” mentioned Alvarez, including that the US “won’t ever be capable to purchase the dignity of the Cuban folks”.
A motorcade later transferred the stays to the armed forces ministry alongside considered one of Havana’s major boulevards, lined by hundreds of individuals paying their respects, waving flags and saluting.
Residents of the capital additionally lined as much as pay their respects on the ministry all through the day.
US President Donald Trump has rejected worldwide criticism that the raid to seize Maduro violated worldwide legislation, stressing final week that he’ll solely be guided by his “personal morality”.
That led to hovering tensions all over the world, together with in Latin America particularly, which has an extended historical past of US army intervention.
Tensions between the US and Cuba spiralled this week after Trump informed the nation he would lower off Venezuelan oil and cash from reaching the island, warning Havana to make a deal earlier than it’s “too late”.
Trump’s feedback prompted a defiant response from Diaz-Canel, who mentioned Cuba would defend its homeland “to the final drop of blood”.
“We now have at all times been keen to take care of critical and accountable dialogue with the varied US administrations, together with the present one, on the idea of sovereign equality, mutual respect and the ideas of worldwide legislation,” the Cuban president mentioned.
He added that relations between the US and Cuba needs to be based mostly on worldwide legislation slightly than “hostility, threats, and financial coercion”.
In the meantime, a rally can be deliberate on Friday in entrance of the US embassy in Havana to protest the Trump administration’s operation in Venezuela.
Maduro, who was kidnapped by US forces alongside his spouse, Cilia Flores, is being held within the US on drug-related fees, which he denies.
