Venezuelan authorities say at least 47 members of the country’s armed forces were killed in a United States military operation earlier this month aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López told state television that the soldiers died facing advanced U.S. military technology and overwhelming force during the raid.
He said the deaths included nine women among the 47 troops.
In addition to the Venezuelan soldiers, 32 Cuban military personnel, some assigned to Maduro’s protection detail, were also killed in the operation.
The defence minister acknowledged the need to review and restructure the Bolivarian National Armed Forces in response to the scale of the losses and the new security reality facing the country.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed leadership after Maduro’s removal, declared a seven‑day period of national mourning for those killed.
The attack was part of a broader U.S. mission in early January that included airstrikes, helicopter deployments and the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
They were later flown to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges in New York.
The Venezuelan government criticised the U.S. action as a violation of national sovereignty and an act of aggression.
Authorities continue to search for the remains of additional victims and identify those killed.
The United States has defended the operation as a targeted effort against what it described as a narco‑state leadership.
Rodríguez and other Venezuelan officials have called for national unity following the losses, while families of the fallen held commemorations to honour the troops’ service.
