Four People on Florida Speedboat Killed in Shootout With Cuban Troops

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In a deadly development that could further strain relations between Havana and Washington, DC, Cuba's Ministry of the Interior announced Wednesday afternoon that four people on a Florida-registered speedboat were killed in a gunfire exchange with Cuban troops in the island nation's territorial waters.

The boat, "with registration number FL7726SH, approached up to 1 nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones, Corralillo municipality, Villa Clara province," Cuba's ministry said in a statement shared on social media. When a five-member crew of border troops "approached the vessel for identification, the crew of the violating speedboat opened fire on the Cuban personnel, resulting in the injury of the commander of the Cuban vessel."

"As a consequence of the confrontation, as of the time of this report, four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six were injured," the ministry said. "The injured individuals were evacuated and received medical assistance. In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban state in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region. Investigations by the competent authorities continue in order to fully clarify the events."

The New York Times reported that "a US official initially said the firefight had involved a US civilian boat that was part of flotilla to get relatives out of Cuba, adding that the vessel was not a US Naval or Coast Guard boat. But later intelligence confirmed that a single boat had been attacked."

The shootout came as Cubans contend with a humanitarian crisis resulting from President Donald Trump's oil embargo.

The US Supreme Court Friday decision to strike down Trump's use of an emergency law to impose sweeping tariffs sparked fresh calls for countries around the world to send oil to Cuba. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Monday that her government is "preparing a plan to assist" the island, and Mexico on Tuesday sent two more military ships carrying humanitarian supplies.

Multiple Florida Republicans, including US Sen. Rick Scott and Congressman Carlos Gimenez, turned to social media to call for a US investigation into the shootout.

Responding to Gimenez's post, GOP Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that "I've 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."

Also replying to the congressman, Andrés Pertierra, a PhD student in Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: "Gimenez is already trying to use this to further escalate tensions, but so far we don't have much confirmed information... Let's get the facts first."

Asked about the shooting during an unrelated press conference, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that he had just been briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and could only say that it is "a situation that we're monitoring" and "hopefully it's not as bad as we fear it could be."

The Associated Press reported that while at the airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts, Rubio told reporters that "we have various different elements of the US government that are trying to identify elements of the story," including whether the boaters were American citizens or permanent residents.

"Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It's not something that happens every day. It's something, frankly, that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time," Rubio said.

"The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans. We will verify that independently as we gather more information, and we'll be prepared to respond accordingly," he added. "We're going to have our own information on this. We're going to figure out exactly what happened."

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, made clear in an appearance before Congress last month that "we would love to see" regime change in Cuba.