CARACAS – Venezuela's military held a funeral in the capital Wednesday for some of the dozens of soldiers killed during the U.S. operation that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Music from a military orchestra echoed over the cemetery as family members and soldiers marched behind a row of caskets. Men carried the wooden caskets cloaked in the Venezuelan flag past rows of uniformed officers.
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“Thank you for letting them embrace a military career,” a military commander, Rafael Murillo, said to families surrounding him at the cemetery on the city’s south side.
The men were honored with a gun salute as the caskets were lowered into the ground and their loved ones wailed. Armed National Guard members patrolled parts of the cemetery for hours before and during the ceremony that followed an emotional wake.
The funeral came a day after acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a seven-day mourning period for the fallen officers.
Venezuela's military has said at least 24 Venezuelan officers were killed in Saturday's dead-of-night U.S. military operation to capture Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores and spirit them to New York to face drug charges.
Maduro and Flores each pleaded not guilty to the charges in a U.S. court Monday.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Wednesday on state television that at least 100 people were killed and a similar number injured during the U.S. operation. He did not provide a breakdown of civilians and members of the armed forces as well as nationalities.
Cuba has said 32 Cuban military and police officers working in Venezuela were killed in the U.S. operation.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said prosecutors would investigate the deaths in what he described as a war crime.
“Their spilled blood does not cry out for vengeance, but for justice and strength,” the Venezuelan military wrote in an Instagram post Monday. “It 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.”
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Associated Press reporter Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.