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Report Reveals Just How Many Casualties There Were Capturing Maduro – And It’s A Lot

Updated: GOVERNMENT

Reports of a Saturday morning operation involving U.S. special operations forces targeting the living quarters of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro prompted sharp reactions from commentators on the left, raising questions about the scope and purpose of the action.

When Cuba’s Communist Party declared two days of mourning for 32 members of a Cuban security contingent linked to Nicolás Maduro and released their photographs, reactions were sharply divided. Some commentators on the left, along with figures aligned with Qatar on the right, expressed skepticism that Maduro and his wife could have been taken from their residence without significant resistance, leaving behind only the deaths of Cuban personnel:

Here, that British commiee George Galloway expresses his doubts:

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But on Tuesday, the Washington Post, a lefty fav, published a detailed piece on the body count left behind by American special operators and Delta Force:

The U.S. government assesses that about 75 people were killed during Saturday’s military raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, including dozens of fatalities that resulted from a gun battle at his compound in Caracas, according to officials familiar with the matter.

One person said that at least 67 people were killed in the predawn strike, while another said that about 75 to 80 people were left dead. The officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity, said the assessments account for Venezuelan and Cuban security forces as well as civilians caught in the fray. The figures roughly match an estimate that Venezuelan officials have shared in recent days.

The sizable death toll adds meaning to President Donald Trump’s public remarks that the operation he approved was “effective” but “very violent.”

Here’s what X’s Grok had to say about the breakdown of the 32 Cubans killed:

Cuban military personnel killed in the Venezuela operation ranged in age from 26 to 67, with many in their 40s-60s, per official reports. This reflects experience: higher ranks like colonels and majors often require years of service, common in elite or security units worldwide, including Cuba’s. Their deployment to protect Maduro likely prioritized seasoned officers over younger troops.

Included in the body count was the commander, Colonel Humberto Alfonso Roca.

That tweet, translated, says:

Identify!!

Colonel Humberto Alfonso Roca, one of the Cuban soldiers who died in Venezuela… he was 67 years old and was part of Nicolás Maduro’s seat belt.

He had also been seen “escorting” Pope Francis or John Kerry himself during his visit to Havana.

No idea why the X poster refers to Roca as a “seat belt” but I did manually check the translation.

One of the dead Cubans had some combat experience:

Among the 32 Cubans killed in Venezuela during Maduro’s capture was a native of Havana, Cuba, named “Roberto Manuel Martinez,” who had previously fought alongside Russian forces in the Donbass region of Ukraine and Syria with Wagner.

At least 24 Venezuelan soldiers have been confirmed killed, according to official statements from Venezuela, while the U.S. estimates suggest the number could be closer to 40. Additionally, there are reports of two women who lost their lives in the incident. Given that there have been no reports of civilian casualties, it is likely that these fatalities also involved soldiers.

The most striking data point—at least to me—was the contrast in casualty narratives. In other conflicts, the claim often appears to be that every burst of 5.56mm fire results in scores of dead children, pregnant women, and journalists. In this case, however, Venezuela acknowledged the loss of several dozen soldiers while making no claim whatsoever of civilian casualties.

At Saturday’s press conference, President Trump and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Caine emphasized that no Americans were killed and that no U.S. equipment was lost during the operation. They notably did not address whether any U.S. personnel were wounded. That omission has now been clarified.

Seven members of the assault force were injured. Five have since returned to duty. Two are currently being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Brooke is the only Department of Defense hospital with a certified Level I trauma center. That designation alone should not be read as an indication of the seriousness of their injuries; Brooke was selected in advance as the receiving facility for any casualties, regardless of severity. Beyond that, no additional information has been released regarding the condition of the two hospitalized soldiers.

Returning to Galloway’s confusion: the Cuban armed forces are simply not what they once were. They have deteriorated significantly from the comparatively capable and often brutal force of the 1980s, when Cuban troops operated aggressively in Central America and East Africa. At their peak, the Cubans fought a highly competent South African Army to a standstill at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola, a protracted engagement from August 1987 to March 1988 that featured heavy artillery, attack aircraft, and helicopters.

That force no longer exists. Today’s Cuban military more closely resembles a conventional Third World security apparatus—adequate for internal repression and crowd control, but of little value against a modern, professional fighting force.

Delta is something altogether different. Its operators would qualify as world-class athletes even before accounting for the skill set layered on top of that physical baseline. They are kept at a razor’s edge through constant training cycles and repeated deployments. Open-source accounts from former Delta operators indicate that members of an assault squad routinely fire hundreds of rounds per week in training, with that figure rising into the thousands during peak periods. This repetition is central to how they clear buildings.

The blue muzzles and magazines seen in training imagery indicate the use of simulated ammunition, but the implication is unmistakable. The sophistication of the facilities, the quality of the equipment, and—most importantly—the precision of the teamwork reflect a true Tier One special operations unit operating at the highest professional level:

It appears from the roster that Maduro’s security team included several older officers who preferred the nightlife in Caracas to that of Havana. In any event, they’re history now, Maduro is on U.S. custody, and President Trump is ending what was becoming a hub for Russia, China, and Iran to threaten us in our hemisphere.

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