At a ceremony in Havana, President Miguel Díaz-Canel defended Cuba's resistance following the death of 32 Cubans in Caracas during Nicolás Maduro's capture. However, testimony from survivor Colonel Pedro Yadín Domínguez reveals that the Cuban officers were sleeping when attacked with bombs and drones. This account clashes with the official narrative of fierce resistance.
On January 17, 2026, the Cuban government held a ceremony at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune, facing Havana's Malecón, to honor the 32 Cubans killed on January 3 in Caracas during Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture. From the podium, Díaz-Canel insisted there would be no negotiation with the United States "on the basis of coercion," but Cuba was willing to dialogue "on equal terms and based on mutual respect." He described the operation as inaugurating "a new era of barbarism, plunder, and neo-fascism," and spoke of the government's "very bitter hours" of "indignation and helplessness."
Venezuela, Cuba's main political and commercial ally for over two decades, took center stage in the official narrative, now framed as sacrifice. Yet the martial tone clashed with survivor Colonel Pedro Yadín Domínguez's testimony, a high-ranking officer from the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. In a TV interview and Granma publication, Yadín stated: "We were sleeping, resting in the early morning." He added: "We barely had weapons," explaining the group was supporting Maduro's security detail without being in combat posture. He called the attack "disproportionate," carried out with planes, bombs, drones, and Apache helicopters, catching personnel off guard during rest.
This contradicts the initial official communiqué, which claimed the 32 Cubans "fought back" and died in combat, declaring national mourning. Official commentator Oliver Zamora, on Mesa Redonda, amplified the resistance, saying the United States "had to kill" the Cubans with "tremendous" force that took hours. Online, user @Jcontre3000 labeled the colonel a "coward" based on videos of Venezuelan soldiers fleeing.
Activists like Laura Vargas and artist Hamlet Lavastida identified State Security agents and figures such as former Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque in the crowd. Díaz-Canel urged to "close ranks" and warned Cuba would defend itself "fiercely," stating: "They would have to kidnap millions or wipe this archipelago off the map." The tribute highlighted tensions between permanent war rhetoric and the reality of opaque, poorly explained deadly missions.
(Source: 14ymedio, translated by Havana Times)
