At least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed in the dead-of-night U.S. military operation to captureĀ NicolĆ”s MaduroĀ and spirit him to the United States to face federal drug charges, officials said Tuesday.
Venezuelaās Attorney General Tarek William Saab said ādozensā of officials and civilians were killed and that prosecutors would investigate the deaths in what he described as a āwar crime.ā He didnāt specify if the estimate was specifically referring to Venezuelans.
The death toll for Venezuelan security officials comes after Cubaās government on Sunday announced that 32 Cuban military and police officers working in Venezuela had died in the operation, prompting two days of mourning on the Caribbean island.
A video tribute to the slain Venezuelan security officials posted to the militaryās Instagram features faces of many of those killed over black-and-white videos of soldiers, American aircraft flying over Caracas and armoured vehicles destroyed by the blasts.
āTheir spilled blood does not cry out for vengeance, but for justice and strength,ā the military wrote in an Instagram post. āIt reaffirms our unwavering oath not to rest until we rescue our legitimate President, completely dismantle the terrorist groups operating from abroad, and ensure that events such as these never again sully our sovereign soil.ā
Meanwhile,Ā President Donald TrumpĀ on Tuesday pushed back against Democratic criticism of this weekendās military operation, noting that his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden had also called for the arrest of theĀ Venezuelan leader on drug trafficking charges.
Trump in remarks before a House Republican retreat in Washington grumbled that Democrats were not giving him credit for a successful military operation that led to the ouster of Maduro, even though there was bipartisan agreement that Maduro was not the rightful president of Venezuela.
In 2020, Maduro was indicted in the United States, accused in a decades-long narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy.
White House officials have noted that Bidenās administration in his final days in office last yearĀ raised the awardĀ for information leading to Maduroās arrest after he assumed a third term in office despite evidence suggesting that he lost Venezuelaās most recent election. The Trump administration doubled the award to $50 million in August.
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āYou know, at some point, they should say, āYou know, you did a great job. Thank you. Congratulations.ā Wouldnāt it be good?ā Trump said. āI would say that if they did a good job, their philosophies are so different. But if they did a good job, Iād be happy for the country. Theyāve been after this guy for years and years and years.ā
Trumpās latest comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officialsĀ briefed leaders in CongressĀ late Monday on theĀ Venezuela operationĀ amid mounting concerns that the Republican administration is embarking on a new era of U.S.Ā expansionismĀ without consultation with lawmakers or a clear vision for running the South American country.
After the briefing, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he does not expect the United States to deploy troops to Venezuela, saying theĀ U.S. actionsĀ there are ānot a regime changeā operation. Democratic leaders said the session lacked clarity about the Trump administrationās plans for Venezuela.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters as Republicans struggle with a plan to address growing health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Americans are split about the capture of Maduro ā with many still forming opinions ā according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and SSRS using text messages over the weekend. About 4 in 10 approved of the U.S. military being sent to capture Maduro, while roughly the same share were opposed. About 2 in 10 were unsure.
Nearly half of Americans, 45 per cent, were opposed to the U.S. taking control of Venezuela and choosing a new government for the country. About 9 in 10 Americans said the Venezuelan people should be the ones to decide the future leadership of their country.
MaduroĀ pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking chargesĀ in a U.S. courtroom on Monday. U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife early Saturday in a raid on a compound where they were surrounded by Cuban guards. Maduroās No. 2, Delcy Rodriguez, has been sworn in as Venezuelaās acting president.
In the days since Maduroās ouster, Trump and top administration officials have raised anxiety around the globe that the operation could mark the beginning of a more expansionist U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.
The president in recent days has renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory ofĀ Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests and threatened military action on Colombia for facilitating the global sale of cocaine, while his top diplomat declared the communist government inĀ CubaĀ is āin a lot of trouble.ā
Trump has said that his administration will now ārunā Venezuela policy and would press the countryās leaders to open its vast oil reserves to American energy companies.
Colombiaās Foreign Affairs Minister Rosa Villavicencio said Tuesday sheāll meet with the U.S. Embassyās charge dāaffaires in Bogota to present him with a formal complaint over the recent threats issued by the United States.
On Sunday, Trump said he wasnāt ruling out an attack on Colombia and described its president, whoās been an outspoken critic of the U.S. pressure campaign on Venezuela, as a āsick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.ā
At a news conference, Villavicencio said sheās hoping to strengthen relations with the United States and improve cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, echoing comments made Monday by several members of Colombiaās government.
āIt is necessary for the Trump administration to know in more detail about all that we are doing in the fight against drug trafficking,ā she said.
Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom on Tuesday joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen inĀ defending Greenlandās sovereignty.Ā The island is a self-governing territory of the kingdom of Denmark and thus part of the NATO military alliance.
āGreenland belongs to its people,ā the statement said. āIt is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.ā
© 2026 The Canadian Press
