Overview
- Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, claimed on his TV program that the U.S. operation in early January left at least 100 people dead and a similar number wounded, including civilians, a toll not verified by independent sources.
- Cabello said Cilia Flores refused to be separated from Nicolás Maduro during the raid and asserted that her decision saved Maduro’s life.
- He detailed that Maduro suffered a leg injury and Flores sustained head and torso injuries, adding that both were recovering.
- U.S. and media accounts describe the injuries as accidental during a failed attempt to hide behind a steel door, with both receiving on‑site medical aid before being flown to New York.
- Maduro and Flores have appeared in a New York federal court on narcotrafficking and conspiracy charges, while thousands of supporters marched in Caracas on January 7 to demand their release and rights groups urged an independent investigation into casualties.