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Cuban border guard have killed four crewmembers of a US registered speedboat on Wednesday after the vessel failed to stop when ordered in Cuban territorial waters, and allegedly opened fire on the police boat.
The Cuban Ministry of Interior released a statement noting that six others on the boat were also injured in the exchange of fire. The commander of the Cuban police boat, which carried a total of five people onboard, was also wounded.
Cuba’s government said later that the 10 passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism, adding that the majority “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
Authorities stressed that all those injured were immediately brought to safety and received medical treatment.
The ministry says the Florida-registered speedboat – registration number FL7726SH – was detected one nautical mile from Falcones Cay in the Villa Clara province. A nearby patrol boat was dispatched to identify the vessel and its passengers when the shooting erupted.
The ministry said it remains committed to protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threats, whether by land, sea or air.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he was made aware of the incident and that the US is now gathering its own information to determine if the victims were American citizens or permanent residents.
“We have various different elements of the US government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio said while at the airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders.
“The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans. We will verify that independently as we gather more information, and we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” Rubio said. “We’re going to have our own information on this. We’re going to figure out exactly what happened.”
He said it was not a US government operation and that he wasn’t “going to speculate about whose boat it was, what they were doing, why they were there, what actually happened.”
The Cuban government identified two of the boat passengers as Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, who are wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism.”
Cuba’s government said it obtained the details about the passengers aboard the boat from the suspects detained following the shootout.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Havana, after US President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on the Caribbean island, for what he said was its role in aiding Venezuela’s former President Nicolas Maduro’s regime.
Trump has cut off all oil and money transfers to Cuba from Venezuela, which it heavily relied on, after the US executed a stunning military intervention which overthrew and extradited Maduro early in January.
The US president has repeatedly urged Cuba to “come to its senses” and strike a deal with Washington “before it is too late”, likely alluding to military action in the island.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has so far refused to engage, saying any negotiations have to be held on equal footing, must be guided by common respect and imposing no threat to Havana’s sovereignty or foreign policy.
Cuban officials have slammed the US for its oil blockade, which they say has shut down the island’s health system and puts thousands of lives at risk.
The incident comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba in 1956, arrives in Saint Kitts and Nevis to meet with Caribbean leaders, as the Trump administration looks to further ramp up pressure and isolate the Cuban government.
Additional sources • AFP
