Venezuela’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello announced late Wednesday that 100 people were killed during the US military operation that ousted President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday — the first casualty figure provided by Caracas. The Venezuelan army has previously posted a list of 23 of its dead, and Cuban officials reported that 32 Cuban military and intelligence personnel were also killed.
Cabello said Maduro was wounded in the leg and his wife, Cilia Flores — who was detained alongside him — suffered a head injury during the raid. The minister, speaking on state television, praised Venezuelan forces as ‘courageous’ and highlighted a week of mourning declared by acting President Delcy Rodríguez for those killed during the operation.US seizes two Venezuela-linked oil tankersMeanwhile, the US seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic and Caribbean, including a vessel that had been sailing under Russia’s flag, as part of President Donald Trump’s intensified effort to control oil shipments tied to Caracas and enforce sanctions. US forces have been tightening a naval blockade targeting ships under sanctions that are transporting or attempting to transport Venezuelan crude. The operation comes shortly after US special forces captured Maduro in a dramatic raid in Caracas.In the North Atlantic, the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera — formerly known as Bella 1 — was intercepted early Wednesday after a weeks-long pursuit and changes in name and flag intended to evade the blockade, officials said. The US Coast Guard and military boarded the vessel under a federal court warrant for alleged sanctions violations. A second ship, the Panama-flagged M/S Sophia, was also boarded and taken into US custody in the Caribbean Sea. US authorities said both tankers were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it, and had been sanctioned for illicit activities tied to Venezuelan oil shipments. The Russian government has condemned the seizure of the Marinera as a violation of international maritime law, calling it “blatant piracy,” though there were no reported clashes during the operation.
