Cuba’s Border Guard Kills Four on Florida-Registered Speedboat

Four people on a U.S.-registered speedboat were shot and killed, and six others were injured, after being intercepted in Cuban waters on Wednesday morning by the country’s border guard, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said. 

Crew members from the boat, which was registered in Florida, opened fire on the island’s border patrol when they approached them near Cayo Falcones in Villa Clara province on Cuba’s north-central coast, the ministry said. The commander of the Cuban vessel was injured in the clash after the patrol approached to identify the speedboat’s occupants, Cuban authorities said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the identities or nationalities of the individuals on the boat haven’t been disclosed. The six injured individuals were evacuated and received medical assistance, the ministry said.

“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters,” the ministry said in a statement posted by the Cuban Embassy in the U.S. “National defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he had “directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to work with our federal, state, and law enforcement partners to begin an investigation. The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to verify elements of the story.” Rubio was attending a meeting with Caribbean leaders in St. Kitts and Nevis, where Cuba was expected to dominate the agenda. “We obviously want to have access to these people if they are American citizens and U.S. residents,” he added.

Cuba’s Interior Ministry said authorities would investigate the incident “to fully clarify the events.”

The deadly clash comes as the Trump administration has sought to choke off the island’s fuel shipments in recent weeks.

“I strongly suggest they make a deal. BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” President Trump said in a Jan. 11 social-media post, adding that “NO MORE OIL OR MONEY” would be going to Cuba.

Since then, he has issued an executive order identifying the Cuban government as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his government was willing to engage with the Trump administration, but declared earlier this month that “to surrender isn’t an option for Cuba.”

The incident took place just one day after the 30th anniversary of Cuba’s downing of two civilian aircraft operated by the humanitarian activist group Brothers to the Rescue during a mission seeking Cuban rafters off the Straits of Florida. Four individuals were killed. 

At a press conference last week commenting on the deaths of these individuals 30 years ago, Florida lawmakers and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody called for the indictment of former President Raúl Castro over the killings.

U.S. lawmakers who support hard-line Cuba policies described Wednesday’s incident as an act of aggression. 

“The dictatorship in Cuba has just attacked a boat from Florida and murdered those on board,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R., Fla.) said Wednesday. “This regime must be relegated to the dust bin of history!”

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