The mother of an 18-year-old Venezuelan soldier killed during a US operation to capture Nicolas Maduro has shared his last words. Saul Pereira Martinez called his mother, Natividad Martinez, at around 2 a.m. on January 3, saying, “I love you. It has begun,” as US air strikes lit up Caracas.
Martinez, a military academy student who had just completed his initial training, was on guard duty at Fort Tiuna when “Operation Absolute Resolve” commenced. He was killed during the mission, which President Donald Trump claimed was achieved without casualties. However, Venezuela’s defense ministry reported at least 83 deaths, including 47 Venezuelan soldiers and 32 Cuban security guards.
Visiting her son’s grave, Natividad Martinez told CBS News: “You can’t come to my country and kill people like that. Because [they said] ‘it was a clean operation.’ It wasn’t clean. Do you know how many people died?” She expressed pride in her son, saying, “He died for his country. Regardless of what they say, to me, my son was a patriot.”
Martinez’s stepfather, a police officer who declined to be named, said his wife heard the explosions and feared for her son’s safety. He noted that Maduro’s whereabouts were a closely guarded secret, suggesting an insider tipped off US intelligence.
Natividad Martinez said her son had joined the military with a childhood friend, who was wounded in the leg during the operation. She described how the armed forces instilled discipline in Saul, who dedicated himself to studying and helping at home. He was posthumously promoted and now lies in a cement tomb adorned with yellow, blue, and white flower petals.
Maduro was extracted from Venezuela along with his wife and taken to New York, where he pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges, insisting he remains the country’s rightful leader.
