Open inquiry: Cuba says four killed on US-registered speedboat as probe stays open
An open investigation is under way after Cuban border guards shot dead four people aboard a US-registered speedboat, Cuba's interior ministry said. The ministry said the four killed were Cuban nationals living in the United States, and that six others on the vessel were wounded.
How the encounter unfolded
The ministry said the Florida-registered vessel, with registration number FL7726SH, was detected near Cayo Falcones in the central Villa Clara province on Wednesday morning. When a Cuban boat carrying five members of the ministry's border guard approached the speedboat for identification, "the crew of the violating speedboat opened fire" and wounded the Cuban commander, the statement said.
Casualties, evacuations and detentions
Weapons and alleged plot
The interior ministry said the 10 individuals aboard the speedboat were armed and intended to "carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes. " Handguns, assault rifles and improvised explosive devices were recovered on the speedboat, the statement added, along with other tactical gear. The ministry said some of the 10 individuals had previous criminal records and that most "have prior records involving criminal and violent activity. "
Open investigation and US response
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was also investigating the "highly unusual" incident and confirmed the boat was not carrying US government personnel. 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, as well as other regional issues, said investigators would move "quickly" to gather the key facts and that the US Coast Guard has travelled to the "vicinity" of the attack.
Rubio said the US would not rely on information provided by the Cuban government and that Washington would independently verify the facts of the case. "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 told reporters. He added: "It is highly unusual to see shootouts on the open sea like that. It's not something that happens everyday. " He also said investigators were working to "clarify" the event and what the passengers were doing in the area.
Additional arrests and online statements
The interior ministry said it had identified an eleventh person who had been arrested and had confessed to being part of the alleged plot. The ministry posted an earlier statement online describing the detection and confrontation near Cayo Falcones on Wednesday morning. Separately, a web prompt encountered in related online material asked visitors to click a box to confirm they were not a robot, reminded users to ensure their browser supports JavaScript and cookies, advised that inquiries should include a reference ID for support staff, and promoted subscription access for global markets news.
All key details in the ministry’s statements—the FL7726SH registration, the location at Cayo Falcones in Villa Clara province, the presence of five border guard members, the wounding of a Cuban commander, the recovery of handguns, assault rifles, improvised explosive devices and other tactical gear, the number of people involved (10 aboard the speedboat and an eleventh arrested), and the claim that the group intended to "carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes"—were set out by Cuba's interior ministry and form the basis of both Havana's account and the US decision to open its own inquiry.
Investigations by Cuban authorities and US officials remain under way, and key questions about who organized the voyage and the group's intent are unresolved.
