The remains of the soldiers members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services arrived at Havana’s international airport early on Thursday in coffins draped with the Cuban flag
Cuba has paid tribute to 32 of its soldiers killed earlier this month in what it says was a United States attack on Venezuela that resulted in the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro.
The remains of the soldiers members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services arrived at Havana’s international airport early on Thursday in coffins draped with the Cuban flag.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel and former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, 94, attended the ceremony in full military uniform to receive the remains.
Earlier this week, Díaz-Canel praised the soldiers, saying they had “heroically fallen in defence of the sovereignty of a sister nation”.
At Thursday’s event, Interior Minister General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez also paid tribute, saying the soldiers had “fought to the last bullet” during the U.S. military’s January 3 attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
“We do not receive them with resignation, but with profound pride,” Álvarez said, adding that the United States “will never be able to buy the dignity of the Cuban people”.
A motorcade later carried the coffins to the Ministry of the Armed Forces along one of Havana’s main boulevards, where thousands of people gathered to pay their respects, waving flags and saluting.
Residents of the capital also lined up throughout the day at the ministry to honour the fallen soldiers.
U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed international criticism that the raid to capture Maduro violated international law, saying last week that he would be guided solely by his “own morality”.
Tensions between Washington and Havana escalated further this week after Trump said the United States would block Venezuelan oil and financial flows to Cuba, warning the country to reach a deal before it is “too late”.
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