January 15, 2026
foto: Yaimi Ravelo
On the tarmac at José Martí International Airport, silence marked the first posthumous tribute to the 32 Cubans who fell performing their duties during the attack perpetrated by the United States against Venezuela.
Led by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the first tribute to the fallen heroes is held at José Martí Airport. Cuba honors and receives the remains of the 32 combatants killed by the US in the attack on Venezuela.
The military ceremony is brief and sober. The formation, the restrained faces, and that moment when the country recognizes those who return forever, wrapped in their flag, are enough.
The words of the ceremony were spoken by Interior Minister Lázaro Alfredo Álvarez Casas, who stated that the combatants “fell far from home, but not from their duty,” and emphasized that by receiving their remains, Cuba renews its loyalty to the homeland and to the unity of Latin America.
thousands of Cubans wait it the rain to pay tribute to their fallen soldiers. foto Abel Padron
“We receive them with deep pride and eternal commitment, because we know that death does not defeat those who fall with a rifle in their hands defending a just cause,” he said.
Álvarez Casas pointed out that the fallen “are a new light that strengthens us, ennobles us, and commits us,” and specified that the flag covering them does not represent an absence. “They bring with them the example of dedication, courage, and loyalty,” he said, recalling the difficult hours of the early morning of January 3, when, he recalled, the Cuban combatants were there, faithful to the legacy of internationalism that has marked every stage of the Revolution.
Álvarez Casas affirmed that Venezuela was not a distant homeland for them, but a place where Martí and Bolívar, Chávez and Fidel are intertwined. “They fell fighting and ascended forever into history,” he said, while reaffirming that Cuba does not give up, even when defending dignity means paying a high price. “Our combatants fought with the same impetus as the mambises and the rebels,” he added.
The minister emphasized that the comrades were received “with the pride of knowing that they fought until the last bullet and gave their lives in the fulfillment of the mission entrusted to them.”
foto: Abel Padron
Álvarez Casas recalled that behind each name there are faces and families, parents, children, spouses, and siblings who today suffer an irreparable loss. In this context, he echoed the words of Fidel Castro: “We cannot say that pain is shared; pain is multiplied.”
Finally, he said that the homeland stands before them with respect and gratitude. “Their dead are our dead,” he said, arguing that if this painful page of history has shown anything, it is that imperialism may have more sophisticated weapons, “but there is something it can never buy: the dignity of the Cuban people.”
At the first light of dawn, the people also await them. Hundreds of Cubans have gathered on both sides of Rancho Boyeros Avenue to pay tribute to their compatriots as the coffins make their way to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English