NEW DELHI: Cuba said its troops killed four people and wounded six others after 10 passengers on a Florida-registered speedboat entered its waters and opened fire on soldiers. The government said the boat fired first, injuring one Cuban officer.
Havana’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that suspects detained after the firefight said they “intended to carry out an infiltration for the purposes of terrorism.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he had been made aware of the incident before Cuba announced it and that Washington is gathering its own information to determine whether those involved were US citizens or permanent residents.
He stressed it was not a US government operation and declined to speculate on the boat or its purpose. The shooting threatens to raise tensions between United States and Cuba.
What happened
Cuba’s interior ministry said the shootout occurred about one mile (1.6 kilometres) northeast of Cayo Falcones off the island’s north coast. It was not immediately known what the boat and its occupants were doing in Cuban waters. The ministry said the country was “safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.”
The ministry said assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails and other military-style equipment were found on the vessel and that all 10 attackers were Cubans living in the United States.
Two men, Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez, were identified as wanted for involvement in organizing, financing and supporting terrorist acts.
Another suspect, Duniel Hernandez Santos, was arrested and “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions,” the government said.
Officials said information about those on board came from suspects detained after the shootout. Seven passengers were identified, including Conrado Galindo Sariol, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Castello, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. One of those killed was Michel Ortega Casanova. Three others have not yet been identified. “The investigation process continues until the facts are fully clarified,” the ministry said.
US response
Rubio said agencies including the US department of homeland security and US coast guard were investigating and that the United States has “constant contact” with Cuba “at the Coast Guard level.”
Speaking in Basseterre, St Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit, he called the incident highly unusual. “Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It's not something that happens every day. It's something, frankly, that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time,” he said, as quoted by AP.
Rubio said Washington would verify the facts independently. “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," he said. “We're going to have our own information on this. We're going to figure out exactly what happened.
In Florida, attorney general James Uthmeier said he had ordered prosecutors to work with federal, state and law-enforcement partners to start an investigation. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on X.
US Vice President JD Vance said Rubio had briefed him and that the White House was monitoring events. “Hopefully it's not as bad as we fear it could be,” he said.
Wider tensions
The incident comes amid strained relations between Washington and Havana. After the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump and top officials have taken a harder line toward Cuba, which had relied on Venezuelan oil.
Cuba’s energy crisis worsened last month when Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any country supplying oil to the island, increasing pressure on Mexico after US policy halted shipments from Venezuela.
Clashes between Cuban forces and US-flagged speedboats have occurred before in Cuban waters. In past years some US-flagged boats carried unidentified cargo bound for the island or were attempting to pick up Cubans to smuggle them into the United States, but there have been no recent reports of passengers opening fire or fatalities.