HAVANA: Cuba said Wednesday it thwarted an attempted armed infiltration from the United States, after its coast guard opened fire on a Florida-registered speedboat near the island’s northern coast, killing four people and wounding six.
In a statement, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the vessel was intercepted about one nautical mile from Cayo Falcones island. As Cuban authorities approached, “shots were fired from the illegal speedboat,” injuring the commander of the Cuban patrol craft.
“As a result of the clash, at the time of this report, on the foreign side, four aggressors were killed and six others were wounded,” the ministry said, adding that the injured were evacuated and provided medical assistance.
The ministry said assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails and other military-style equipment were recovered from the vessel, registered in Florida under the number FL7726SH. The 10 occupants were identified as Cubans living in the United States.
Those arrested after the exchange of gunfire claimed they “intended to carry out an infiltration for the purposes of terrorism,” according to Cuban authorities. In a subsequent statement, the ministry released the names of seven of the individuals and said most had prior records in Cuba for “criminal and violent activity.”
A man allegedly sent from the United States to participate in the operation was arrested on Cuban soil and confessed, it added.
The incident marks a fresh source of tension between Havana and Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was seeking its own account of events and would “respond accordingly.”
“We’re not going to base our conclusions on what they’ve (Cuba) told us, and I’m very, very confident that we will know the full story of what happened here,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to St. Kitts and Nevis. “As we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly.”
Florida’s attorney general ordered an investigation into the killings. The state lies just 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Cuba across the Florida Straits and has long been a focal point for Cuban migration.
Cuban authorities frequently report incursions by speedboats from the United States into their territorial waters. Such incidents are often linked to people-smuggling or drug trafficking and have at times involved chases and armed confrontations with border guards.
The shootings come amid broader strains between the two countries. President Donald Trump in January imposed a sweeping oil blockade on Cuba following the US ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a key ally of Havana.
Before Maduro’s removal on Jan. 3, Cuba relied on Venezuela for roughly half of its fuel needs. Facing pressure from Caribbean leaders concerned that severe fuel shortages could destabilize the island’s economy, Washington later said it would allow limited shipments of Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use,” provided they went through private entities rather than the Cuban government or military-controlled businesses.
Cuba’s economy, already weakened by decades of US trade restrictions dating back to the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro, has been pushed to the brink in recent months. Chronic shortages of food and medicine and daily blackouts have fueled an exodus of Cubans, many heading to southern Florida.
Mexico this week dispatched two military vessels carrying nearly 2,200 tons of aid to the island, its second shipment in under a month, while Canada announced Can$8 million ($5.8 million) in additional assistance on Wednesday.
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