By DÁNICA COTO and ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
HAVANA (AP) — The names, ranks and ages of the 32 Cuban navy personnel killed through the seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces had been revealed Tuesday by the Cuban authorities, which introduced two days of mourning.
Among the many deceased are colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains, in addition to some reserve troopers, ranging in age from 26 to 60.
The uniformed personnel belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Inside, Cuba’s two important safety companies. The publication didn’t specify their missions or precisely how they died.
Cuban state media revealed their particulars and headshots, which present them clad in olive-green navy uniforms.
In an announcement Sunday, Cuban authorities acknowledged the deaths of the personnel who had been within the South American nation as a part of agreements between the 2 nations.
“Our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism, falling after fierce resistance in direct combat against the attackers, or as a result of the bombing of the facilities,” the official assertion mentioned.
Restricted particulars of Cubans killed in strike
Details about the Cuban officers killed started trickling out on Monday evening, with Cubans publicly saying they’d died for a simply trigger.
“You have to say that to say the same thing as the government,” mentioned Luis Domínguez, who runs the web site, Represores Cubanos, or Cuban Repressors, which doxes officers allegedly concerned in human rights abuses and violations of democratic norms.
“Inside, Cubans have to be saying something else,” he added.
Domínguez mentioned he believes that a kind of killed, 67-year-old Col. Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez, was the garrison commander of Punto Cero, the place Fidel Castro as soon as lived.
One other officer who was killed, 62-year-old Col. Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, is believed to have overseen Cuba’s coast and border guards, Domínguez mentioned.
As top-tier financial and political allies, Cuba and Venezuela have agreements in areas starting from safety to vitality, with the sale of backed oil to the island since 2000. Nonetheless, the extent of navy or advisory exchanges has hardly ever been reported.
A submit revealed Monday on the unbiased web site La Joven Cuba, a weblog that gives a platform for a lot of opposition voices on the island, featured a profile of 1st Lt. Yunio Estévez. It was written by a journalist who was a detailed buddy. The submit included particulars of the 32-year-old’s life and featured photos together with his three kids, whom he had raised collectively in Guantánamo province in jap Cuba.
La Joven Cuba report said that Estévez, a communications professional in control of a private safety division, was shot through the assault. The submit was eliminated later that night on the household’s request, the web site reported.
A protest and a second of silence
The U.S. strike on Venezuela prompted the Group of American States to carry a particular assembly on Tuesday, the place a protester interrupted the speech of U.S. Ambassador Leandro Rizzuto.
“The majority of people are against this!” cried out Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, a U.S.-based anti-war nonprofit. “Hands off Venezuela!”
She referred to as for sanctions to be lifted as OAS officers referred to as for safety guards who ultimately led her out of the room.
Rizzuto resumed his speech after Benjamin was eliminated: “I understand there are many raw emotions.”
He referred to as the strike a “targeted law enforcement action” in opposition to an “indicted criminal.”
“Let me be clear, the U.S. did not invade Venezuela,” Rizzuto mentioned. “President Trump offered Maduro multiple offramps. This was not an interference in democracy…it actually removed the obstacle to it.”
He mentioned the U.S. needs a greater and democratic future for Venezuela.
“You cannot continue to have the largest oil reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the Western Hemisphere while the people of Venezuela have no electricity, substandard quality of life, and its profits don’t benefit the people in Venezuela,” Rizzuto mentioned. “The profits are stolen by a handful of oligarchs around the world, including those inside of Venezuela.”
He additionally referred to as on the discharge of an estimated 1,000 political prisoners, saying the U.S. helps the request of the Inter-American Fee on Human Rights to go to the detention heart in particular person.
After Rizzuto spoke, Peruvian Ambassador Rodolfo Coronado referred to as for a minute of silence for the victims of Maduro’s regime.
Through the OAS assembly, representatives of a number of nations strongly condemned the U.S. strike.
Mauricio Jaramillo, Colombia’s vice minister of overseas relations, denounced what he mentioned was an assault in opposition to Venezuela’s sovereignty. He mentioned the unilateral navy motion was a “clear violation of international law” that set “an extremely worrying” precedent.
Earlier than the particular OAS assembly started, a couple of dozen protesters gathered exterior holding indicators that learn, “No war on Venezuela” and “Arepas Not Bombs.”
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
