Venezuela‘s defense minister revealed that U.S. Delta Force commandos killed a “large part” of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s security team during Operation Absolute Resolve.
Speaking to the public on television, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino denounced the operation that saw Venezuela’s head of state snatched from the country’s most fortified compound without the loss of any U.S. troops. In his address, he said the Venezuelan armed forces “firmly rejects the cowardly kidnapping” of Maduro and his wife after the “cold-blooded murder of a large part of his security team, soldiers and innocent civilians.”
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Sources familiar with the operation speaking with the New York Times said the Delta Force commandos took three minutes to locate Maduro and his wife before they could barricade themselves in a fortified room. Padrino’s comments indicate that the capture involved a gunfight between the U.S. commandos and Maduro’s personal security team, during which most of the latter were killed at no cost to the former.
Also on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed the extent of Cuban support for Maduro, saying that his entire personal security team was made up of Cubans, along with his security apparatus.
“His internal security apparatus is entirely controlled by Cubans. One of the untold stories here is how, in essence, you talk about colonization … the ones who have sort of colonized, at least inside the regime, are Cubans,” he said.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro. He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards. In terms of their internal intelligence, who spies on who, inside to make sure there are no traitors; those are all Cubans,” Rubio added.
He said he wouldn’t reveal what the U.S.’s plans are for Cuba, but analysts have noted that the possible fall of the socialist government in Venezuela would cut off a key lifeline for Havana.
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A senior Venezuelan official told the New York Times on Sunday that the death toll for Operation Absolute Resolve had increased to 80 Venezuelans, including civilians.
Six U.S. personnel were injured in the operation, with none killed.