At Jose Marti Airport in Havana this morning, Cuban Revolution leader Ra\u00fal Castro and President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel led the first posthumous tribute to the 32 combatants killed during the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also present at the tribute were the families of the deceased, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodr\u00edguez, members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, and high-ranking officials and military personnel from the Caribbean nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a solemn military ceremony, the remains of the heroes were received. They were part of an internationalist mission responding to a request from counterpart organizations in the Bolivarian nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the ceremony, Interior Minister L\u00e1zaro Alberto \u00c1lvarez affirmed that \u201cdeath does not defeat those who fall with rifles in hand defending a just cause,\u201d and emphasized that the combatants \u201cdo not return as shadows; on the contrary, they are a new light that strengthens, inspires, and commits us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled that the combatants died in the early morning of January 3, \u201cwhen the aggression and treacherous attack cast a shadow over Venezuela,\u201d and stressed that they were there \u201cloyal to Fidel, to Ra\u00fal, to the Party, and to the legacy of internationalism that has marked every stage of the Cuban Revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVenezuela was not a distant land for them; it was the natural extension of their homeland, just as it was for our heroes. There, Bol\u00edvar and Mart\u00ed, Ch\u00e1vez and Fidel are intertwined,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00c1lvarez reaffirmed that \u201cCuba does not abandon its children, Cuba does not renounce its principles, Cuba does not surrender, even if defending its dignity requires paying a high and painful price,\u201d and proclaimed that \u201con Cuban soil there will never be room for cowardice and betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the combatants, \u201cwhen they crossed sea and air to fulfill their mission, knew that not returning was a possibility, but they were firmly convinced that they would never betray this people who, following the example of their heroes, learned to share their fate with others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the ceremony, the remains of the combatants were transported on gun carriages along Rancho Boyeros Avenue to the headquarters of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), located next to Revolution Square, where the people will be able to pay their respects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People from all walks of life are lining outside the Ministry building to pay their respects at the coffins, which will lay in state until the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day before, a group of Cuban combatants wounded in the same attack arrived in Havana, accompanied by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities reiterated that the 32 deceased, aged between 26 and 60, died defending Venezuelan sovereignty and internationalist solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tomorrow, Friday, the people will pay tribute at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune and in all provinces, before the burial in the Pantheon of the Fallen in Defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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