Miguel Díaz-Canel awarded the 18 members of the Cuban Rescue and Salvage Brigade the medal "For Valor in Service" this Wednesday, during a ceremony held at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, as the president himself published on his X account.
The recognition arrives just over a week after the rescuers returned to Cuba on July 27, after operating for nearly a month in Venezuela due to the devastating earthquakes of June 24, 2026, the most powerful recorded in that country since 1900.
The two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, occurring just 39 seconds apart, mainly devastated La Guaira and Caracas. The toll of victims has continued to rise: from 164 confirmed deaths the following day, the number escalates to over 6,125 fatalities by the end of this Wednesday.
The first Cuban contingent, consisting of 13 specialists and three trained dogs —Tito, Eva, and Choco—, arrived in Venezuela on June 28, just four days after the earthquakes.
A second group of rescuers, surgeons, and forensic experts joined later, completing an operation that transported more than seven tons of specialized equipment and focused on rescue efforts, recovery of bodies, and securing collapsed structures in La Guaira.
This is not the first distinction received by the brigade: on July 4, the Venezuelan government led by Delcy Rodríguez awarded Cuban rescuers the medal "Heroes and Heroines of Venezuela" in a ceremony in La Guaira, which was also attended by Diosdado Cabello, alongside specialists from 11 other nations.
At that event, the dogs Tito, Eva, and Choco received the distinction of "Canine Heroes of Venezuela" for locating individuals under the rubble.
Upon departing Venezuela on July 27, the brigade was also honored with the April 16 Medal and the Venezuela-Cuba Friendship Award.
Díaz-Canel took advantage of the ceremony on Wednesday to frame the mission within the official discourse of the dictatorship. "Their commitment, at the risk of their own lives, honors the school of solidarity of the Revolution. Mission accomplished," he wrote in his post.
The regime uses this humanitarian mission as a narrative of "revolutionary solidarity" at a time when the bilateral relationship is undergoing a period of reconfiguration: following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026, the Cuban government publicly acknowledged for the first time the deaths of 32 Cubans who were "carrying out missions" for the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior in Venezuela, a military and intelligence personnel presence that both governments had denied for years.
The rescue brigade represents, in official discourse, the humanitarian face of a bilateral relationship that since 2003 has included the sending of more than 165,000 Cuban health professionals to Venezuela, and which today is upheld under the government of Delcy Rodríguez.
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