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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to ask why nobody is talking about the 32 people killed in the raid on Venezuela?

69 replies

QwertyAtThirty · 05/01/2026 20:47

32 people (largely forming Maduro's security team) were killed when the US attacked Venezuela.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9r0eyw0jno
Why isnt that part of the discussion about whether the US's actions were justified / were an act of warfare / violated international law? Apart from reports such as the one linked above, it's not mentioned in any of the commentary I've seen or heard about the legality of the event. Is it because they died protecting Maduro and are therefore considered the "bad guys" and accepted by the international community as collateral damage in a way they wouldn't be if they were civilians?

I suppose my AIBU is: AIBU to think the fact that lives were lost warrants a place in the discussion?
YABU = they're not worth mentioning
YANBU = their deaths should form part of the conversation

A firefighters passes by a burnt military vehicle at La Carlota air base in Caracas on January 3, 2026, after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a "large scale strike" on the South American country.

Thirty-two Cubans killed during US attack on Venezuela

Cuba's president said military and intelligence operatives were providing protection to captured leader Nicolás Maduro.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9r0eyw0jno

OP posts:
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fwsr323 · 15/01/2026 11:41

Bringemout · 08/01/2026 05:21

Why on earth would you think it would do that. Most are probably hoping to back away from this slowly. Estimate is the real deaths are something like 350’000 dead russians. I can’t imagine many russians actually want to do this. I also imagine he’s made it a bit difficult for the kleptocrats to do business and people keep falling out of windows. I imagine if someone bumped him off a lot of people around him would breath a sigh of relief so they could go back to just stealing shit and impoverishing their countrymen.

It’s a bit like believing that Maduro was truly beloved of his people.

Watching the media on Iran. I didn't know that Maduro was supporting the regime there. But i guess it makes sense. Dictators help each other. Trump really did the Iranian people a favour by going for Maduro. I hope both countries get the leadership and freedom they want and learn from the mistakes of other countries.

MangaKanga · 08/01/2026 06:46

Isn't it pretty to think so.

Bringemout · 08/01/2026 05:21

MangaKanga · 08/01/2026 05:11

You would have to be an utter imbecile to believe that killing Putin would do anything but pour accelerant on the war in Ukraine.

Why on earth would you think it would do that. Most are probably hoping to back away from this slowly. Estimate is the real deaths are something like 350’000 dead russians. I can’t imagine many russians actually want to do this. I also imagine he’s made it a bit difficult for the kleptocrats to do business and people keep falling out of windows. I imagine if someone bumped him off a lot of people around him would breath a sigh of relief so they could go back to just stealing shit and impoverishing their countrymen.

It’s a bit like believing that Maduro was truly beloved of his people.

MangaKanga · 08/01/2026 05:11

You would have to be an utter imbecile to believe that killing Putin would do anything but pour accelerant on the war in Ukraine.

Bringemout · 08/01/2026 04:54

GaIadriel · 07/01/2026 17:36

At least 20,000 Venezuelan civilians died in extrajudicial killings in 2019 alone. They're probs better off with Trump in charge even if he has no right to take power/is doing it for selfish reasons.

This, and it’s like saying o-one should even think of assassinating Putin even if it meant an end to Russian and Ukrainian deaths. Guess it comes down to that whole “1 death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic” view.

MangaKanga · 08/01/2026 03:56

"I don't like licking fascist jackboots, but..."

It's possible to deplore all murders by power-hungry psychopaths, you know.

GaIadriel · 08/01/2026 03:13

MangaKanga · 07/01/2026 21:08

So extrajudicial killings are OK if done by Western powers?

So you don't see a difference between the killing of 20,000 civilians and the killing of 32 mercenaries protecting a violent dictator?

And those 20,000 killings were in one year alone. The total figure is likely way higher. I don't like Trump but if one arsehole kills another arsehole we still ultimately have one less arsehole.

MangaKanga · 07/01/2026 21:08

So extrajudicial killings are OK if done by Western powers?

SerendipityJane · 07/01/2026 17:46

GaIadriel · 07/01/2026 17:36

At least 20,000 Venezuelan civilians died in extrajudicial killings in 2019 alone. They're probs better off with Trump in charge even if he has no right to take power/is doing it for selfish reasons.

Ah. So the end justifies the means.

GaIadriel · 07/01/2026 17:36

fwsr323 · 07/01/2026 16:01

Did you see the footage of Venezuelan soldiers running over civilians? Using tanks.

Edited

At least 20,000 Venezuelan civilians died in extrajudicial killings in 2019 alone. They're probs better off with Trump in charge even if he has no right to take power/is doing it for selfish reasons.

Ihatetomatoes · 07/01/2026 16:32

Sadly, America calls deaths of civilians, 'collateral damage'. America doesn't appear to care for anybody, anywhere but itself. They will take what they want by force if necessary to further their own interests. They have shown the world what America is and means and will do.

BlueJuniper94 · 07/01/2026 16:30

Weirdoero · 05/01/2026 23:05

What’s the public benefit? Honestly I really don’t know much about this at all except America is not Venezuela and that makes me think not their circus, not their monkeys.

Except when you have narcomonkeys pouring over your border causing havoc. But I don't think that's the reason.

Yes, this should be reported. Why isn't it

SerendipityJane · 07/01/2026 16:03

QwertyAtThirty · 06/01/2026 19:35

I assume you're being facetious. Do you really want to live in a world where it's ok to murder people once they're over 70?

You're right. 70 is probably a bit late.

65 ? Think of all the pensions you could save. Buy a lot of flags.

fwsr323 · 07/01/2026 16:01

Did you see the footage of Venezuelan soldiers running over civilians? Using tanks.

QwertyAtThirty · 06/01/2026 19:35

SerendipityJane · 06/01/2026 12:14

In their seventies you say ? So they had a good innings. Not really sure what the hysteria is all about.

I assume you're being facetious. Do you really want to live in a world where it's ok to murder people once they're over 70?

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Ifailed · 06/01/2026 12:55

SerendipityJane · 06/01/2026 12:14

In their seventies you say ? So they had a good innings. Not really sure what the hysteria is all about.

Donald Trump is 79. Just saying.

SerendipityJane · 06/01/2026 12:14

AlastheDaffodils · 06/01/2026 12:09

It’s not just the Cuban guards. At least two female Venezuelan civilians were killed by the bombing. One in her forties, one in her seventies.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260105-clearing-bomb-wreckage-venezuelan-mourns-aunt-killed-in-us-raid

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-donald-trumps-bombs-kill-36503210.amp

In their seventies you say ? So they had a good innings. Not really sure what the hysteria is all about.

QwertyAtThirty · 06/01/2026 12:03

Duckyneedsaclean · 06/01/2026 10:18

Have you spoken to anyone from Venezuela about it? All seem to be overjoyed.

I don't personally know anyone from Venezuela to ask. But like you, the impression I get from the media is that they are overjoyed. Why wouldn't they be? Maduro is by all accounts an awful human being.
But we've been here before with the US "liberating" countries from despotic regimes. It didn't end well for Afghanistan or Iraq, and I don't imagine it will end well for Venezuela either.

Not to mention that there is nothing in Donald Trump's history to suggest he gives a shiny shit about the wellbeing of Venezuelans, or of Americans with mental health problems or addictions. That wasn't his reasoning for doing what he did.

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QwertyAtThirty · 06/01/2026 11:57

Santangelo · 06/01/2026 11:31

How many Americans have been killed by drugs brought in from Venezuelan crime gangs? Have you got any sympathy for them? Thought not.

Who said anything about sympathy? I have family members whose live have been utterly destroyed or lost due to drugs, and of course I have sympathy for anyone in that situation.
But let's not pretend this had anything to do with drugs.

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FellowSuffereroftheAbsurd · 06/01/2026 11:55

In the media, I think there is some hesitant 'which way is the wind going to blow' and 'which sources on this can we trust' going on.

For every day people, I think a large part is fatigue - same as pp mentioned what's going on in Iran or the genocide in Congo or so many other horrific things going on. We can only focus on so many things, and I think it's harder when we're left feeling that there is little we can do about it.

Personally, I've spent the last decade or so feeling like I'm in perpetual 'the US government has done what now?' to the point that this is no shock or much beyond 'ugh, not again' type of feeling.

Drug runners who are flooding a country with deadly substances and killing untold numbers deserve all they get in my eyes.

There is nothing to suggest those murdered were drug runners and excusing deaths by a government is how the US, UK, among others have gotten though many, many coups in the past. The issues in Iran? Directly traced to the US and UK coup over oil. The genocides in Congo - the UAE is funding weapons and drugging up kids for resources. The regular practice for power grabs and control aren't that subtle - they sell a tune about there being a threat, and aim no where near the cause.

If this was about drugs, Venezuela was the wrong target. It isn't a stronghold for either fentanyl (components are made in China and India, the processing and running mostly from Mexico with a smaller amount coming from Canada from the US's DEA own intelligence reports) or cocaine (it's called Columbian marching powder for a reason, largely grown and processed there, Bolivia, and Peru) or really any other drug. Some civilians become drug runners for gangs , and some governments either support or turn a blind eye to it, but Venezuela isn't unique or particularly represented in this issue compared to several other nations even by the US's own reports.

Even if their president is everything the news is saying and the people are overjoyed, the US government is not doing this out of any altruism or to help stop the opiate epidemic or anything else killing many ordinary people. They have and merrily put in again someone far worse if it gets them what they want.

How many Americans have been killed by drugs brought in from Venezuelan crime gangs? Have you got any sympathy for them? Thought not.

And all the other crime gangs? Or the American health care system where a lot of opiate addictions in the US begin? Or the lack of resources in addiction services from the US government?

I used to live in the US, I've seen the opiate epidemic first hand, all the ones I've known started as prescription drugs that ran out before the pain did, then they had to find their own way to manage & no help when it became too much. Killing more people in Venezuela isn't going to change any of that.

MangaKanga · 06/01/2026 11:44

Santangelo · 06/01/2026 11:31

How many Americans have been killed by drugs brought in from Venezuelan crime gangs? Have you got any sympathy for them? Thought not.

We have this thing called "law courts" and "due process," designed to give people a fair trial, a chance to be heard and, crucially, making the prosecution prove their case with actual evidence before any punishment is meted out.

Rather than a crazed orange despot murdering indiscriminately and boastingly posting the snuff footage like the amoral piece of shit psychopath he is.

If you weren't an apologist for a despotic regime, you'd acknowledge the virtues of such concepts as "the law" and "a right to a trial." But you won't give a shit till it is you they're summarily executing, I guess.

FFSToEverythingSince2020 · 06/01/2026 11:32

The death toll is up to 80, according to Venezuelans, with 32 of the dead being Cubans. Apparently, one of the missiles or bombs they dropped was off target and hit a residential complex - this is what I’m hearing from inside Venezuela. I think it must be true to be able to reach a death toll of 80?

And then, the injuries. I imagine the US troops who took Maduro didn’t exactly announce who they were, so Maduro’s wife probably thought they were there to assassinate her and her husband; if you’ve seen, she has head wounds from fighting, and it looks like the marks you get from being clubbed upside the head. Such brave soldiers, injuring an unarmed woman. I imagine the leaders of Cuba and Colombia are sleeping with a gun under their pillows.

I just don’t understand how the Americans who support Trump can be so lackadaisical; the man pardoned the president of Honduras, despite his direct involvement in the drug trade, but used drugs as the excuse for the Venezuelan action. The difference between the two countries: Venezuela has some of the largest reserves in the world of both oil and gold. No one is paying attention to the gold in this. Gold prices have skyrocketed, so mineral wealth probably plays a part in Trump’s greed for Venezuela’s resources.

And men and women have, sadly, always been killed for both gold and black gold. I just thought we were in 2025, and not 1810, when this kind of shite was accepted.

Death toll, confirming military and civilians:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9r0eyw0jno.amp

Venezuela and gold:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelshulman/2026/01/05/venezuelas-oil-equals-the-magnificent-seven-gold-makes-it-eight/

A firefighters passes by a burnt military vehicle at La Carlota air base in Caracas on January 3, 2026, after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a "large scale strike" on the South American country.

Thirty-two Cubans killed during US attack on Venezuela - BBC News

Cuba's president said military and intelligence operatives were providing protection to captured leader Nicolás Maduro.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9r0eyw0jno.amp

Santangelo · 06/01/2026 11:31

How many Americans have been killed by drugs brought in from Venezuelan crime gangs? Have you got any sympathy for them? Thought not.

Ifailed · 06/01/2026 11:20

GasPanic · 06/01/2026 11:15

If this guy did decide to surround himself with a security team made up of non nationals - it's not normally a good sign.

So murdering "non-nationals" is ok then?