Four people were killed and six detained after armed Cuban exiles aboard a Florida-registered speedboat were intercepted at sea on Wednesday, drawing swift reactions from Washington, Havana and Moscow.
Cuban authorities said heavily armed Cuban nationals attempted to infiltrate the country on Wednesday (25 February) using the vessel, triggering an exchange of gunfire off the coast. Four people were killed and six others wounded before being taken into Cuban custody.
A U.S. official in Washington said at least two of those aboard were U.S. citizens, including one who died and another who was receiving treatment in Cuba. Others may have been legal U.S. residents, the official added.
According to the same official, the boat's owner reported that an employee stole the vessel.
The confrontation came at a tense moment in U.S.-Cuban relations. President Donald Trump has tightened sanctions since the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a longtime Cuban ally, on 3 January.
The United States has moved to intercept oil shipments bound for Cuba, targeting vessels linked to operators such as Mexico’s state energy company Pemex. Washington has warned governments involved that they could face tariffs if they fail to comply.
Trump has said that “Cuba will be failing pretty soon”, noting that Venezuela - once the island’s main supplier - has not recently sent oil or financial support.
The Trump administration maintains that its measures are designed to increase pressure for political change in Cuba. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was in Cuba’s “best interest to make very dramatic changes very soon”.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on 25 February that it would allow companies to seek licences to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba’s private sector, a step that could help ease the island’s acute fuel shortage.
Havana said it had been in communication with U.S. officials from the outset and noted signs of cooperation, even as it blamed Washington for allowing anti-Castro groups to operate freely.
Fernando de Cossio, a senior foreign ministry official, said Cuba had repeatedly warned the U.S. about “an increase in violent and terrorist plans and actions against Cuba” by groups and individuals on U.S. territory, arguing that Washington had failed to act.
“Anti-Cuban groups operating in the United States resort to terrorism as an expression of their hatred of Cuba and the impunity they believe they enjoy,” he said in a prepared statement.
Cuba said the suspects arrived from the U.S. wearing camouflage and carrying assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights.
It added that two of the assailants had been wanted in connection with earlier alleged plots. Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Cruz Gomez, both 47 and Cuban-born U.S. residents, were on a 2025 list of suspects designated by Cuba as terrorists.
Sanchez was accused of involvement in a plot against a municipal court and a Communist Party organisation in Havana, while Cruz was suspected of arms trafficking linked to a planned attack on a military unit in Matanzas.
The group’s arrival comes against the backdrop of a long history in which some Cuban exiles in Miami have advocated the overthrow of the island’s Communist government. Exile paramilitary groups have previously attempted sabotage missions.
Galindo had been briefly detained in Cuba on at least one previous occasion, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an inactive body that once documented allegations of repression.
Cuba identified the four dead as Pavel Alling Peña, Michael Ortega Casanova, Ledian Padron Guevara and Hector Duani Cruz Correa. It said Rolando Roberto Ascorra Consuegra had initially been wrongly named and was not involved.
The six survivors were taken to the Arnaldo Milian Castro Provincial Clinical Surgical Hospital in Santa Clara, about 250 km east of Havana and close to where the incident occurred, roughly one nautical mile off the coast.
The hospital was under heavy guard on Thursday, with Interior Ministry troops entering and leaving the premises. Security personnel confirmed the suspects were held there but offered no further details.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would conduct its own investigation, noting that “a lot of the information out there is what the Cubans have provided” and that the U.S. would “verify that independently”.
He said the embassy in Havana was seeking access to the survivors to confirm whether any were U.S. citizens or residents, adding that officials still did not know “who has possession of the vessel.”
Rubio stressed it was not a U.S. operation and that no American personnel were involved.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said his government would respond firmly to any attempt to undermine the country’s stability as it confronts an acute oil shortage following U.S. pressure on fuel supplies.
“Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability,” he wrote on X.
Russia also weighed in on the confrontation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the speedboat incident off Cuba’s northern coast was “an aggressive provocation by the United States aimed at escalating the situation and detonating a conflict,” according to state-owned TASS.
She was speaking after Havana reported that four exiles were killed and six others wounded when the Florida-registered vessel opened fire on a Cuban patrol during already heightened tensions with the United States.
Schools across Pakistan are being forced to close for a fortnight from next week with government departments down to a four-day week, accordin...
Australia has granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women footballers who sought asylum, fearing persecution after refusing to sing their nati...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top ...
U.S. President Donald Trump called his recent phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very good.” The two leader...
Just under a year after being arrested and imprisoned at Silivri prison in the west of İstanbul, İmamoğlu appeared in good spirit...
A power outage struck most of Cuba, including Havana, the state electric utility said on Wednesday (5 March), as the Communist-run government grapples with increased pressure from the Trump administration that has curtailed oil shipments.
Cuba has released extensive details of a deadly midweek shootout at sea, showing rifles, pistols and nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition that it says were carried by a group of exiles who attempted to enter the island by speedboat.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
Mexico has dispatched fresh humanitarian shipments to Cuba as fuel shortages deepen under renewed U.S. pressure, while Canada prepares assistance of its own.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
China has urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their dispute through dialogue after Chinese envoy Yue Xiaoyong met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, as fighting between the two neighbours entered its eleventh day.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
Australia has granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women footballers who sought asylum, fearing persecution after refusing to sing their national anthem at an Asia Cup match.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 10th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
U.S. President Donald Trump called his recent phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin “very good.” The two leaders spoke on Monday about the situation in Iran and other international issues.
Welcome to our live coverage as the conflict involving Iran enters its 11th day. Tensions in the region remain high as the United States and Iran exchange increasingly sharp warnings over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supplies.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment