Havana, January 16, 2026 – Havana and all of Cuba observed days of profound mourning and revolutionary resolve between January 15 and 16, in homage to the 32 Cuban heroes who fell in Venezuela during the United States aggression. The tributes, led by the highest leadership of the Revolution and massively supported by the people, reaffirmed the condemnation of the state terrorism perpetrated by the U.S. government.
The Cuban people paid tribute to their heroes with moving respect and fighting spirit, affirming that their lives were not in vain and that their example will guide the present and future struggles for the sovereignty of Our America.
The first posthumous tribute took place at José Martí International Airport, where the remains of the 32 internationalist fighters were received in a ceremony led by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Leader of the Cuban Revolution, and by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, along with family members of the victims, leaders of the Party, the Government, and mass organizations. In an atmosphere of profound silence, broken only by the solemn notes of the military tributes, Cuba honored its sons murdered by imperialist aggression while carrying out cooperation and security missions in defense of Venezuela's sovereignty and the integrity of President Nicolás Maduro.
After the ceremony at the airport, a solemn march accompanied the transfer of the coffins along Rancho Boyeros Avenue to the headquarters of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, where the Cuban people continued their tribute to their fallen. On both sides of the road, thousands of Havana residents, carrying flags, flowers, and images of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, and José Martí, expressed their profound grief, their respect, and their unwavering commitment to defending the nation against the threats and blackmail of imperialism.
At the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the people of Havana were able to pay tribute to the heroes, with honor guards composed of officers from the Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, veterans of the Revolution, and representatives from various sectors of society. These individuals expressed their condolences to the families and affirmed that the 32 fallen combatants now form part of the nation's moral pantheon.
From the early hours of January 16, the influx of workers, students, and the general public demonstrated the popular, anti-imperialist, and nationally unifying nature of the tribute events. The José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune hosted a massive tribute this morning, attended by thousands of people who participated in a new edition of the March of the Combatant People and reaffirmed Cuba's commitment to the defense of peace, dignity, and independence. The event, led by President Díaz-Canel and other authorities, focused on recognizing the 32 heroes posthumously promoted and denouncing the United States' aggression as an act of state terrorism contrary to international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
Simultaneously, starting in the early morning, tribute ceremonies were held in the home provinces of the combatants, with events at the Pantheon of the Fallen in Defense and at emblematic sites in each region. In every municipality, Party and Government officials, students, workers, and residents joined the families in mourning, chanting slogans in defense of the Revolution, the sovereignty of Venezuela, and for the freedom and safety of President Nicolás Maduro Moros and Representative Cilia Flores.
Various organizations and solidarity platforms, including the Network of Intellectuals, Artists, and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity, joined in the tribute with public messages of support for the Cuban people and the families of the victims. In their statements, these voices declared that the 32 Cubans who died in Venezuela are symbols of internationalist solidarity, of the defense of the sovereignty of Bolívar's homeland and of all of the Americas, and demanded an immediate end to the United States' aggression against Venezuela and the release of President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores.
The commemorations on January 15 and 16 took place within a context of growing national and international condemnation of the U.S. military aggression. Cuba has reiterated that the memory of the 32 fallen heroes in Venezuela will be honored with the continuation of the struggle for justice, sovereignty and unity of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, and that there will be no impunity for those responsible for these crimes against humanity.
Cubaminrex
Embassy of Cuba