What we know so far about the deadly boat shooting off Cuba’s coast

Original article by Mark Saunokonoko and agencies

A deadly exchange of fire between two boats off the coast of Cuba, killing four and wounding six, has raised already high tensions between Washington and Havana.

Cuba’s government said a US-registered boat was carrying 10 people, most of whom it claimed “have a known history of criminal and violent activity”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the US was gathering its own information but called the open sea shootout “highly unusual”.

Here’s what we know so far.

What happened in the Cuba speedboat shootings?

Cuba said its coastguard shot dead four people and injured six others travelling in a US-registered speedboat just after 2pm ET on Wednesday, in an exchange of fire one nautical mile from Cayo Falcones island, off Cuba’s northern coast.

Havana’s interior ministry said the coastguard approached the boat to identify the passengers. Then “shots were fired from the boat”, injuring the captain of the Cuban vessel. The injured were evacuated and received medical assistance, Cuba said.

The US said it was conducting its own investigations to try to establish what happened.

Who was killed, wounded or detained?

The interior ministry claimed the 10 boat passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castello, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra were detained. In addition, Cuba said González and Gómez were previously wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts.

Cuba said it also detained another Cuban man in Cuban territory, Duniel Hernández Santos, who it claimed had come from the US to the island in order to receive the infiltrators.

Michel Ortega Casanova was killed in the firefight, Cuba said. The other three dead are yet to be identified.

What does the Cuban government say about the incident?

The initial statement from Cuba’s interior ministry provided few details. But it did claim the boat had the Florida registration number FL7726SH. The ministry said Cuba’s government was “safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region”.

In a second statement on Wednesday, Cuba said it had obtained more details about the passengers from the detained suspects. It claimed the group came from the US armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights. “According to preliminary statements from the detainees, they intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes,” the statement said.

What does the US say about the incident?

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Washington was seeking its own facts about the shooting but that it was not a US government operation.

“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,” Rubio told reporters while on a trip to the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis.

“As we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” he said. “Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that.” Rubio said homeland security and the US Coast Guard were investigating.

James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney general, said local authorities would investigate and assist federal agencies. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he posted on X.

Why are US-Cuba tensions especially high right now?

The Cuban economy has been pushed to brink by a US oil blockade that has been in place for more than a month. Before US forces seized Nicolás Maduro on 3 January, Cuba had relied on Venezuela for about half its fuel needs. Caribbean leaders have worried that starving 9.6 million Cubans of oil could cause the economy to collapse.

In the hours before Wednesday’s boat shooting, Washington had agreed to ease oil restrictions on Cuba and allow shipments of Venezuelan oil for “commercial and humanitarian use”. The US treasury department said exports would need to go through private businesses and not the government or military apparatus in the communist state.