Cuba Kills Four On Speedboat Trying To ‘Infiltrate’
Cuba said it thwarted gunmen trying to infiltrate from the United States as its coastguard opened fire on Feb. 25 at a Florida-registered speedboat near its shores, killing four people and wounding six.
As a new source of tension between beleaguered Cuba and Donald Trump's Washington suddenly emerged, Havana's Interior Ministry said people arrested after an exchange of gunfire with the boat claimed they "intended to carry out an infiltration for the purposes of terrorism."
The ministry said assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, and other military-style gear were found on the vessel and the 10 occupants were all Cubans living in the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was seeking its own facts about the shooting and would "respond accordingly."
The Cuban Interior Ministry earlier said the coast guard encountered the "illegal" U.S. vessel, whose registration number it gave as FL7726SH, one nautical mile from Cayo Falcones island off Cuba's northern coast.
As the coast guard vessel approached, "shots were fired from the illegal speedboat," injuring the commander of the Cuban vessel, the ministry said.
"As a result of the clash, at the time of this report, on the foreign side, four aggressors were killed and six others were wounded," the ministry said, adding that the injured were evacuated and received medical assistance.
In its second statement the ministry released the names of seven of the people on the speedboat. It said most of the 10 had records in Cuba for "criminal and violent activity."
A man sent from the United States to take part in this operation was arrested on Cuban soil and confessed, it added.
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