Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago
THE NEWS THAT Cuba’s coastguard killed four people and wounded six on a US-registered speedboat has made international headlines this morning.
Cuba said it opened fire on the Florida-registered speedboat to prevent gunmen with terrorist intent trying to infiltrate from the US, but Cuban-American US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was seeking its own facts about the shooting.
Meanwhile, the attorney general of Florida, which lies just 160 kilometres from Cuba across the Florida Straits, ordered an investigation into the killings.
The killings came following a month-long US oil blockade which plunged Cuba into a humanitarian crisis and placed huge pressure on the economy, which has been under a US trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
US President Donald Trump imposed a blockade on Venezuelan oil in January after the US toppled Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, an ally of Cuba. Before Maduro’s ousting Cuba had relied on Venezuela, once a major oil producer, for about half its fuel needs.
Following an outcry from Caribbean leaders, Washington said yesterday that it would allow shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba for “commercial and humanitarian use”.
Note from the Ministry of the Interior:
— Cuban Embassy in US (@EmbaCubaUS) February 25, 2026
On the morning of February 25, 2026, a violating speedboat was detected within Cuban territorial waters. The vessel, registered in Florida, United States, with registration number FL7726SH, approached up to 1 nautical mile northeast of the… pic.twitter.com/AEmwtAZ4lO
Havana’s Interior Ministry said people arrested from 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 ten occupants were all Cubans living in the United States.
In a statement on X, the Ministry said: “In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defence is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.”
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.
It said the people arrested are currently “under criminal investigation and are wanted by Cuban authorities for their alleged involvement in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support, or execution of terrorist acts in Cuba or abroad”.
Meanwhile Rubio said Washington will not “base our conclusions on what they’ve (Cuba) told us”.
“I’m very, very confident that we will know the full story of what happened here. As we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” he told reporters while on a trip to the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis.
US lawmaker with Cuban roots, Carlos Gimenez, demanded an investigation into the deaths.
“United States authorities must determine whether any of the victims were US citizens or legal residents and establish exactly what occurred,” he said.
“The regime in Cuba must be relegated to the dustbin of history for its countless crimes against humanity.”
The Cuban interior ministry earlier said the coast guard encountered the “illegal” US 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.
The Cuban government frequently reports incursions by speedboats from the United States into its territorial waters.
The incidents are often related to people-smuggling to the United States or drug trafficking, and have included chases, shootouts and armed attacks on border guards.
With additional reporting from AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say