The Cuban regime made public the identities of the 32 Cubans who died on January 3rd during the United States attack on Venezuela, as part of the military operation that ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Through his , the official journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso shared on Monday the photographs and identities of the Cuban officers who were on a mission as personal security for the dictator allied with Havana.
According to the publication, the combatants —members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT)— “were carrying out missions at the request of counterpart agencies in Venezuela,” officially confirming the presence of Cuban military personnel in the South American country, something that Havana denied for years.
The list includes high-ranking officials, captains, lieutenants, and soldiers aged between 26 and 67 years. Among them are Colonels Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez and Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, as well as Majors Ismael Terrero Ge, Rodney Izquierdo Valdés, and Rubiel Díaz Cabrera.
The names were published alongside their official portraits, marking Cuba's first public acknowledgment of the scale of the casualties suffered during the operation. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Cubans "fell in direct combat or as a result of bombings" and were described as "heroes who knew how to elevate the solidarity felt by millions of their compatriots."
Official list of combatants killed during the capture of Nicolás Maduro
Combatants of the Ministry of the Interior
- Colonel Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez (67 years old)
- Colonel Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez (62 years old)
- Mayor Rodney Izquierdo Valdés (51 years old)
- Mayor Ismael Terrero Ge (47 years old)
- Captain Yoel Pérez Tabares (48 years old)
- Captain Adriell Adrián Socarrás Tamayo (32 years old)
- Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Osoria López (49 years old)
- Mayor Rubiel Díaz Cabrera (53 years old)
- Mayor Hernán González Perera (43 years old)
- Captain Bismar Mora Aponte (50 years old)
- First Lieutenant Yorlenis Revé Cuza (38 years old)
- First Lieutenant Alejandro Rodríguez Royo (35 years old)
- First Lieutenant Erdwin Rosabal Ávalos (35 years old)
- First Lieutenant Daniel Torralba Díaz (34 years old)
- Lieutenant Yasmani Domínguez Cardero (32 years old)
- Lieutenant Fernando Antonio Báez Hidalgo (26 years old)
- First Lieutenant Yandrys González Vega (45 years old)
- First Lieutenant Yordanys Marlonis Núñez (43 years old)
- First Lieutenant Yunior Estévez Samón (32 years old)
- Lieutenant Yoandys Rojas Pérez (46 years old)
- First Sergeant Giorki Verdecia García (30 years old)
Combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
- Captain Adrián Pérez Beades (34 years old)
- Sergeant Major Suriel Godales Alarcón (42 years old)
- Soldier (retired) Adelkis Ayala Almenares (45 years old)
- Retired Soldier Alexander Noda Gutiérrez (48 years old)
- Soldier (retired) Ervis Martínez Herrera (52 years old)
- Soldier (retired) Juan Carlos Guerrero Cisneros (55 years old)
- Soldier (retired) Juan David Vargas Vaillant (54 years old)
- Retired Soldier Rafael Enrique Moreno Font (35 years old)
- Retired Soldier Luis Alberto Hidalgo Canals (57 years old)
- Retired soldier Luis Manuel Jardines Castro (59 years old)
- Retired Soldier Sandy Amita López (37 years old)
The publication comes a day after the presidential decree of national mourning signed by Miguel Díaz-Canel, which established two days of mourning for the fallen and ordered the suspension of festive activities throughout the country.
The official revelation contrasts with the narrative maintained for years by the Cuban government, which denied any military presence in Venezuela and attributed its cooperation solely to the sending of doctors and civilian advisors.
The public acknowledgment of the deceased—identified as “fighters of the FAR and MININT in international missions”—marks a drastic shift in Havana's discourse and raises questions about the exact nature of those “missions” in a conflictual context between Caracas and Washington.
Filed under: