The White House says the number of Cuban deaths reported by the regime is likely lower than the actual number.
14ymedio, Madrid, 6 January 2025 — On Tuesday, three days after the US intervention in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the Cuban regime revealed the names of the 20 agents of the Ministry of the Interior and the 12 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) who died in the operation. “Victims of a new criminal act of aggression and state terrorism, perpetrated against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by the United States,” states the official newspaper Granma, adding that the 32 deceased “lost their lives in combat and after fierce resistance.”
The agents, they claim, “were carrying out missions on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of their counterparts in the South American country.” Among the deceased from the Ministry of the Interior are two colonels (Humberto Alfonso Roca Sánchez, 67, and Lázaro Evangelio Rodríguez Rodríguez, 62), a lieutenant colonel (Orlando Osoria López, 53), four majors (Rodney Izquierdo Valdés, 51; Ismael Terrero Ge, 49; Rubiel Díaz Cabrera,53; and Hernán González Perera, 43), and three captains (Yoel Pérez Tabares, 48; Adriel Adrián Socarrás Tamayo, 32; and Bismar Mora Aponte, 50). The FAR, for its part, lost only one commander: Captain Adrián Pérez Beades, 34 years old, and all the others were troops and a non-commissioned officer.
Of Roca Sánchez, the most senior and first on the published list, there is not a single detail about his studies, professional career, or missions, which suggests a high level within the intelligence apparatus. Something similar occurs with the second, Rodríguez Rodríguez, and the third, Osoria López. It is noteworthy that, of the 20 deceased from the Ministry of the Interior, 19 were officers.
The rest of the deceased, according to the Ministry of the Interior, are: Yorlenis Revé Cuza (38 years old), Alejandro Rodríguez Royo (35), Erwin Rosabal Ávalos (35), Daniel Torralba Díaz (34), Yasmani Domínguez Cardero (33), Fernando Antonio Báez Hidalgo (26), Yandrys González Vega (45), Yordanys Marlonis Núñez (43), Yunior Estévez Samón (32), Yoandys Rojas Pérez (46), Giorki Verdecia García (30). From the FAR, the following fell: Chief Warrant Officer Suriel Godales Alarcón, (42 years old), and the privates Adelkis Ayala Almenares (45), Alexander Noda Gutiérrez (48), Ervis Martínez Herrera (52), Juan Carlos Guerrero Cisneros (55), Juan David Vargas Vaillant (54), Rafael Enrique Moreno Font (35), Luis Alberto Hidalgo Canals (57), Luis Manuel Jardines Castro (59) and Sandy Amita López (37).
Some of those names had already surfaced through posts by family members on social media. This is the case of Alejandro Rodríguez Royo, a resident of the Boniato neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba, as reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada. According to testimonies gathered by the reporter, the family received conflicting accounts from authorities regarding the location and transfer of the body. A family member recounted that they were first told the body was missing, then that it had been located and that they would be notified. According to this source, both Rodríguez Royo and his brother were allegedly linked to State Security structures.
Fernando Báez Hidalgo, a native of Río Cauto (Granma Province), linked to the Personal Security Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and identified as Maduro’s direct bodyguard, was mentioned in several concurring publications. The First Secretary of the Communist Party in Granma, Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló, herself acknowledged that six of the deceased were officers from that province, although she did not specify their identities.
Similarly, Yunior Estévez, listed as “Yunio” by La Joven Cuba, is also mentioned. He was born in Palenquito Gil, a rural hamlet in Yateras, Guantánamo. However, the publication removed the initial post , which stated that the young man was a father of three and a cryptography specialist, “at the family’s request.”
The deaths of Rubiel Díaz Cabrera, from Cauto Cristo, and Luis Manuel Jardines Castro, known as Jardinito , from Cueto, Holguín, who worked as a driver, have also been confirmed.
Other deaths had been reported under different names. For example, Erwin Rosabal Ávalos, from La Rinconada, Granma province, was referred to as “Erduin” in messages and publications as a member of the Venezuelan president’s inner circle of security. The same occurred with Orlando Osoria López, “Landy,” from Baire, Contramaestre, in Santiago de Cuba province, who was repeatedly described as a member of Cuban State Security and part of the team deployed in Caracas. Several publications place him among the deceased, even citing family addresses.
According to the US official, the assault in Caracas was a “furious gun battle” and the Cubans “suffered a massive number of casualties.”
Yorlenis Revé Cuza was also identified from Santiago as “Yordenis Marlonis.” According to various publications, he was part of the direct security detail for the Venezuelan president and his wife. He was the son of parents from the town of Dos Caminos and left behind his wife and young daughter in Cuba. Sources cited by La Tijera indicate that before his assignment in Venezuela, he had been a bodyguard for the former First Secretary of the Party in that province, Lázaro Expósito Canto, a fact that reinforces his affiliation with high-level security forces. Officials from the Ministry of the Interior reportedly informed his family of his death, although without providing specific details.
An agent who had been referred to as “Yandri” is likely Yandrys González Vega, whose death was announced by his cousin Moraima Rodríguez on social media. In her post, she expressed pride in his “duty fulfilled” protecting Maduro, a statement that, regardless of its tone, confirms the deceased’s role as a bodyguard.
Captain Yoel Pérez Tabares had been mistakenly identified on social media as “Caraballo.” A native of Consolación del Sur (Pinar del Río), his death was reportedly officially confirmed to his daughter by the Personal Security Directorate of the same ministry. His case was notable for being one of the few in which a direct and formal notification to a family member was mentioned.
On Monday, Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, said in an interview with CNN that the number of Cubans killed as publicly reported by the regime is likely lower than the actual number. According to the US official, the assault in Caracas was a “furious gun battle” and the Cubans “suffered massive casualties.”
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