Cuba faces collapse as Venezuelan oil dries up
Joseph Hernandez, a Cuban immigrant and N.Y. comptroller candidate, shares his family’s experience fleeing communist Cuba and discusses the country’s uncertain future after Maduro’s capture, emphasizing its oil dependency on Venezuela.
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Cuba’s official mouthpiece for its ruling communist party confirmed Tuesday that 32 members of its armed forces were killed during the U.S. military operation to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The 32 military and police officers were part of a mission carried out at the request of Venezuela’s government, according to a government statement. On Tuesday, Cuba released their names, ranks and ages.
“Victims of a new criminal act of aggression and state terrorism perpetrated against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the United States, 32 Cubans lost their lives in combat actions and after fierce resistance,” a statement published by Granma, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.
“They were carrying out missions representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of counterpart bodies in the South American country.”
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Cubans hold a Venezuelan national flag with a Cuban one during a gathering in support of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Havana Jan. 3 after U.S. forces captured him. (Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images)
Cuba announced two days of mourning.
Among the deceased were colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains and some reserve soldiers, ranging in age from 26 to 60, The Associated Press reported.
They belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, Cuba’s two main security agencies. The publication did not specify their missions or disclose how they died.
In a post on X. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Cubans were “prepared to give their lives” against any U.S. intervention.
“The U.S. president, showing absolute ignorance about Cuba and repeating the agenda of lies of Cuban-American politicians and other groups of interest, is blaspheming and threatening our people,” Rodríguez wrote. “Our valiant people, true to their history of struggle, will defend their nation against any imperialist aggression.
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Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. embassy in Havana Monday in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela, during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
“In his words, with all intention, he omits any reference to his criminal policy of economic suffocation and warfare, which has been further tightened, against Cuba, which causes harm and desperation to Cuban families,” he added, seeming to refer to President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has said Cuban officials were part of Maduro’s security detail. Cuba and Venezuela have grown close in recent years, with Cuban agents becoming a big presence in the South American nation.
“You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday,” President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday night. “There was a lot of death on the other side. No death on our side.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a fierce critic of Cuba’s communist government, said Venezuela’s spy agency was “basically full of Cubans.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends a rally in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in solidarity with Venezuela after the U.S. captured President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of Venezuela. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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“One of the biggest problems Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba,” he said during a news conference in which officials revealed details of the military operation to capture Maduro and his wife. “They tried to basically colonize it from a security standpoint.”
