Reactions From Home After 32 Cubans Killed by U.S. in Venezuela

32 Cubans were killed in Venezuela on January 3 during the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Our journalist Liz Oliva Fernández went to the streets of Havana to hear how people reacted to the news.

TRANSCRIPT

“Hello, good afternoon. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to ask you a few questions. What was your reaction when you found out that 32 Cubans died in Venezuela?” asked Liz Oliva Fernández, a journalist with Belly of the Beast.

“My reaction is that no country has the right to invade another. Those Cubans were there at the request of the Venezuelan government to protect Maduro. That’s why they died. The blood we’ve shed unites us even more,” said a Havana resident.

“Cubans have died in many places. We’ve gone in solidarity to many countries, Angola, Ethiopia,” reflected another Cuban.

“Did you expect to hear news like this nowadays?” Oliva asked.

“No, I really didn’t expect it,” replied a Cuban woman.

“They were very young people, and they died while carrying out their duty. So yes, it’s very sad,” she added quietly.

“It was tough to hear. They’re Cubans, and in the end, we Cubans are almost all brothers,” said a Cuban man.

“Are you afraid that what happened in Venezuela could also happen here?” the journalist asked.

“I’ll be honest with you, a little,” admitted a woman.

“Look, I’m not afraid. I’m 68 years old, I’ve lived my life. I’m not afraid,” said an older man.

“What happened in Venezuela, everyone knows it’s about oil. I don’t think they’ll come and bomb Cuba like that,” he added.

“Neither bullets nor bombs have names. Anyone who calls for an invasion, anyone who celebrates the invasion of another country, doesn’t know when it might reach their own family or friends,” warned another Havana resident.

“Trump wants to take over Latin America and the entire world. He thinks he’s the emperor of the world,” said a Cuban man angrily.

“I was one year old when the revolution triumphed. We’ve lived under threat our entire lives, even invasion, and we defeated them,” he concluded.