Open investigation after four Cuban nationals shot dead on Florida-registered speedboat, Cuba says
An investigation is open after Cuban border guards shot dead four people aboard a Florida-registered speedboat, Cuba's government said. The interior ministry said the four who were killed and six who were wounded were Cuban citizens and that the vessel opened fire on a coast guard vessel that had approached them.
What Cuba's interior ministry said
The interior ministry, posted online, said the speedboat's passengers were the four who were killed and six others who were wounded, all Cuban citizens. The ministry said the ten individuals, "some with previous criminal records, " were armed and intended to "carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes. " The statement said handguns, assault rifles and improvised explosive devices were recovered on the speedboat, along with other tactical gear.
Sequence of events at sea
An earlier ministry statement posted on X said the Florida-registered vessel, with the registration number FL7726SH, was detected near Cayo Falcones, in the country's central Villa Clara province, on Wednesday morning. The statement also said the speedboat had been approached near an island off the country's northern coast on Wednesday when a Cuban boat carrying five members of the ministry's border guard moved in for identification. "The crew of the violating speedboat opened fire, " the statement said, and the Cuban commander was wounded.
Casualties, evacuations and detentions
Weapons, an alleged plot and an arrest
The ministry said the ten individuals were armed and intended to "carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes. " It said handguns, assault rifles and improvised explosive devices were recovered, along with other tactical gear. The interior ministry also said an eleventh person had been arrested and had confessed to being part of the alleged plot.
US response and Rubio remarks
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was also investigating what he called the "highly unusual" incident. Before the Cuban government released some of the passengers' identities, Rubio confirmed the boat was not carrying US government personnel and said an investigation was ongoing to "clarify" the event and what the passengers were doing in the area. Rubio, speaking from Saint Kitts and Nevis, where he had travelled to meet with Caribbean leaders amid the Trump administration's push to ramp up pressure on Cuba's government, said: "We're going to find out exactly what happened, who was involved, and we'll make a determination on the basis of what we find out. "
He vowed US investigators would move "quickly" to gather the key facts and said the US Coast Guard has travelled to the "vicinity" of the attack. He added that the US would not rely on information provided by the Cuban government and that Washington would independently verify the facts of the case. Rubio described the event as "highly unusual" and said: "It is highly unusual to see shootouts on the open sea like that. It's not something that happens everyday. "
Open questions remain
Key details remain unclear in the provided context, including full identities released by the interior ministry and the precise chain of events that led to the confrontation. The ministry's account and the statements by Rubio form the public record in the provided context: ten people on the Florida-registered vessel FL7726SH, four killed, six wounded and later detained, one additional arrested and said to have confessed, weapons and explosives recovered, a wounded Cuban commander, and an ongoing US investigation.
All elements above are drawn from the statements and remarks included in the provided context.
