{"id":8942,"date":"2026-01-17T05:09:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8942"},"modified":"2026-01-17T05:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:09:47","slug":"nearly-50-venezuelan-soldiers-killed-in-us-abduction-of-president-maduro-nicolas-maduro-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8942","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 50 Venezuelan soldiers killed in US abduction of President Maduro | Nicolas Maduro News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Venezuela\u2019s Defence Ministry says 83 people in total killed in US attack to abduct President Nicolas Maduro.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Nine women soldiers were among 47 Venezuelan \u200dtroops \u200dkilled earlier this month when the United States attacked the capital Caracas \u2060and abducted President \u200bNicolas Maduro, Venezuela\u2019s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez \u200dsaid.<\/p>\n<p>Revising the number of Venezuelan forces killed upward from an initial report of 23, the defence minister said on Friday that a total of 83 people were killed in the January 3 raid by US forces.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Those killed included 32 Cuban soldiers, some of whom had been assigned to President Maduro\u2019s personal protection team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat have the men and women of our Bolivarian National Armed Forces done in the face of military aggression? They have given their lives, they have honoured history and the homeland,\u201d Padrino said at a ceremony to honour those killed in the attack.<\/p>\n<p>The minister also said that a site will be located for the construction of a memorial to those killed.<\/p>\n<p>Cuba on Thursday received the remains \u200bof the 32 soldiers it said were killed in combat \u200cin the early hours of January \u20603.<\/p>\n<p>More than 112 people were reported injured in the US raid that began with the bombing of military targets and culminated with US troops landing in helicopters and abducting Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their residence in Caracas.<\/p>\n<p>The full extent of civilian casualties from the US raid has yet to be determined by authorities in Venezuela. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said earlier this week that experts needed to use DNA testing to identify victims, as some were blown to \u201clittle pieces\u201d in the US attack.<\/p>\n<p>Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who has decreed seven days of mourning for those killed in the US attack, met on Thursday in Caracas with CIA director John Ratcliffe, whose agency played a key role in Maduro\u2019s abduction, The Associated Press news agency reports.<\/p>\n<p>A US official told the AP that Ratcliffe discussed potential economic collaboration between the two countries and warned that Venezuela can never again allow the presence of US adversaries, including drug traffickers, on its soil.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"emperor-of-the-white-house\">\u2018Emperor of the White House\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Tens of thousands of Cubans demonstrated outside the US embassy in Havana on Friday to decry the killing of the 32 Cuban soldiers in the Venezuela attack.<\/p>\n<p>Crowds poured into the open-air Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist plaza across from the US diplomatic compound in a rally organised by the Cuban government.<\/p>\n<p>The US \u201cis governed by a president who considers himself an emperor\u201d, said Rene Gonzalez, 64, one of the protesters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must show him that ideas are worth more than weapons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4245615\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4245615\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4245615\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-01-17T013353Z_744156944_RC2K2JAY1K5H_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA-CUBA-1768621288.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Members of Cuba's military honour guard carry Cuban\u2011flag\u2011draped urns containing the remains of soldiers killed in the U.S. strike and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas on January 3, during their funeral at Colon Cemetery in Havana, Cuba, January 16, 2026. REUTERS\/Norlys Perez\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4245615\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of Cuba\u2019s military honour guard carry Cuban\u2011flag\u2011draped urns containing the remains of soldiers killed during the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at Colon Cemetery in Havana, Cuba, on January 16, 2026 [Norlys Perez\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel shook hands with protesters before giving a speech in which he said Washington had \u201copened the door to an era of barbarism, plunder and neo-fascism\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one here surrenders,\u201d Diaz-Canel said. \u201cThe current emperor of the White House and his infamous secretary of state haven\u2019t stopped threatening me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCuba does not have to make any political concessions, and that will never be on the table for negotiations aimed at reaching an understanding between Cuba and the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important that they understand this. We will always be open to dialogue and improving relations between our two countries, but only on equal terms and based on mutual respect,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump recently demanded that Cuba make a deal with him before it is \u201ctoo late\u201d. He did not explain what kind of deal or what would occur beyond his deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves, which the US president has repeatedly said now belong to the US.<\/p>\n<p>Havana is highly dependent on Venezuelan oil, and experts warn that if supplies run dry, it could have catastrophic consequences for cash-strapped Cuba, which is already struggling with severe power blackouts and years of US-imposed sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s demonstration in Havana was organised a day after tens of thousands of Cubans gathered at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces in the capital to pay their respects to the 32 slain officers as their bodies arrived from Venezuela.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4245617\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4245617\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4245617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26016536705974-1768621447.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Soldiers carrying photos of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro march the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4245617\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soldiers carrying photos of Cuban officers killed during the US attack on Venezuela march to the US embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Friday [Ramon Espinosa\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Venezuela\u2019s Defence Ministry says 83 people in total killed in US attack to abduct President Nicolas Maduro. Nine women soldiers were among 47 Venezuelan \u200dtroops \u200dkilled earlier this month when the United States attacked the capital Caracas \u2060and abducted President \u200bNicolas Maduro, Venezuela\u2019s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez \u200dsaid. Revising the number of Venezuelan forces [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}