Cuba paid tribute to the 32 combatants who gave their lives carrying out institutional duties during the US armed invasion of Venezuela on January 3, which ended with the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
Thousands of Cubans gathered in the streets of the capital, Havana in the early hours of Thursday, January 15, to honor the martyrs. The public tribute will continue through Friday, January 16, Cuban authorities reported. The plane carrying the heroes’ remains from Caracas to the Cuban capital arrived early morning on Thursday.
🇨🇺| El General de Ejército, Raúl Castro Ruz, y el Presidente @DiazCanelB, encabezaron el sentido tributo que se ofreció a los 32 combatientes cubanos caídos en el vil ataque de Estados Unidos a #Venezuela.
Al amanecer, sus restos llegaron a la Patria.#HonorYGloria pic.twitter.com/oOvXMLRXvF
— Presidencia Cuba 🇨🇺 (@PresidenciaCuba) January 15, 2026
The solemn reception took place at José Martí International Airport in Havana. President Miguel Díaz-Canel and General Raúl Castro Ruz presided over the ceremony.
The ceremonial speech was delivered by Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, who stated that the combatants “fell far from their home, but they did not fall from their duty.”
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He added that Venezuela was not a distant homeland for the fallen, but a space where the independence heroes of the two nations, José Martí and Simón Bolívar, and the historical leaders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro are intertwined. “They fell in combat and ascended forever into history,” the minister emphasized, adding that the fallen comrades were honored “with the pride of knowing that they fought to the last bullet and gave their lives in fulfillment of the mission entrusted to them.”
The remains of the martyrs were transferred to the headquarters of the Cuban Ministry of the Armed Forces, accompanied by Cubans who gathered along Rancho Boyeros Avenue to pay tribute to them.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
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