Cubans gather in support of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Havana Photo: ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP
The Cuban government said on Sunday that 32 of its citizens were killed during the US raid on Venezuela to extract President Nicolas Maduro for prosecution in the United States.
Havana said there would be two days of mourning on January 5 and 6 in honor of those killed and said funeral arrangements would be announced.
The Cuban government statement gave few details, but said all the dead were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies.
"True to their responsibilities concerning security and defence, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of bombings on the facilities," the statement said.
Cuba has provided some security for Maduro since he came to power. It was not clear how many Cubans were guarding the Venezuelan president when they died and how many may have perished elsewhere.
Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores were seized by US forces in the Venezuela capital Caracas on Saturday and flown to the United States. Maduro is being held in a New York detention center awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges.
Maduro was indicted in 2020 on US charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. He has always denied any criminal involvement.
At least 164 people were confirmed dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around Venezuela's capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
The city mayor told busy Parisians to slow down on Thursday as large parts of Western Europe remained in the grip of a deadly heatwave that has claimed dozens of lives, disrupted power supplies, and shut schools and cultural landmarks.
President Donald Trump's administration has asked the US Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran war, setting the stage for another fight with lawmakers already frustrated with the conflict.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 has struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
US President Donald Trump has stated on Tuesday that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity," while Tehran said it had made no such concession in negotiations, raising questions about the viability of their fragile peace deal.