Cuba says it killed heavily armed exiles who attacked from US-registered speedboat; cuba names suspects
cuba’s interior ministry said Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others after a Florida-registered speedboat entered Cuban waters and opened fire on a patrol boat. The ministry identified detainees, named one of the dead and said the wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention.
Cuba border patrol confrontation off coast
The ministry said the speedboat, which it described as US-registered and Florida-registered, came within one nautical mile of a channel on Falcones Cay on Cuba’s north coast when it was approached by five members of a Cuban patrol unit. The crew of the speedboat opened fire, wounding the commander of the Cuban vessel, and Cuban forces returned fire; the government said four people aboard the speedboat were killed and six were wounded and detained.
Who was on the speedboat
The ministry said there were 10 passengers on the speedboat and that the passengers had been living in the US. It said that, " preliminary statements by those detained, " the group intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes. Cuban officials described the passengers as anti-government Cubans, some with prior records involving criminal and violent activity.
Weapons, gear and evidence seized
Authorities listed weapons and equipment seized from the boat: assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives and Molotov cocktails, ballistic vests and telescopic sights were all mentioned. The ministry said the people who came from the US were dressed in camouflage and were armed with assault rifles, handguns and explosives.
Names of detainees and arrested facilitator
The Cuban government identified six people detained from the speedboat: Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, whom it said were previously wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts; and Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castello, Cristián Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. The statement added that two of those detained are wanted by Cuban authorities for their alleged roles in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support or commission of actions connected with acts of terrorism.
In addition, Cuba said it detained another Cuban man in Cuban territory, Duniel Hernández Santos, whom it claimed had come from the US to the island to receive the infiltrators and who had confessed to his role, as described by the government.
Dead, injured and medical response
One of the dead was identified as Michel Ortega Casanova; the ministry said the other three dead had yet to be identified. The wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention, the government said, and the Cuban patrol commander who was wounded was among those treated.
US reaction and investigations
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the incident was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved. He said Cuban authorities made the US aware of the incident, but that the US embassy in Havana would attempt to independently verify what happened. While on a trip to the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis, Rubio told reporters: "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. " He added, "As we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly, " and said, "Suffice to say it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. " Rubio also said the US would try to determine if those involved were US citizens or permanent residents.
Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, said he had ordered an investigation into the incident and said he was ordering prosecutors to open a separate investigation with other state and federal law enforcement partners. Uthmeier said, "The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable. "
Local geography and past incidents
The ministry described the confrontation as taking place where gentle farmland gives way to the Florida Straits and bleached beaches under swaying palms. It noted that the scattered keys offshore are highly militarised and are a common spot for Cubans seeking to escape to the US to launch rafts, and for people smugglers to land in fast boats.
The statement recalled several incidents in 2022 during the migration crisis: in June off Bahía Honda to Havana’s west, Cuban they returned fire against a trafficking boat, killing one; and in October survivors said their boat was rammed by the coast guard nearby and seven migrants died, including a two-year-old girl, Elizabeth Meizoso.
It also noted the near anniversary of an earlier deadly confrontation: almost exactly 30 years earlier the Cuban air force shot down two small planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, killing Carlos Alejandre, 45; Armando Costa, 29; Mario De la Peña, 24; and Pablo Morales, 29. Those planes were dropping leaflets on Havana and the group said they were helping people flee the island. That event ended a thaw between the US and Cuba, and the US soon increased its sanctions on the island.
The Cuban government said it was continuing identification efforts and investigations into the incident and the roles of those detained and killed.
cuba’s interior ministry provided the names, the numbers of dead and wounded, the list of seized weapons and the sequence of events leading to the clash; other official statements and inquiries in the US and Florida were under way.
