SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Havana: Cuba’s government has said the 10 passengers on a boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the United States who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.
The announcement came hours after Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speed boat that had entered Cuban waters and opened fire on the soldiers first, injuring one Cuban officer.
Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity”.
It identified two of them as Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, who were wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism”.
Cuba said it had also arrested a man it identified as Duniel Hernández Santos, who had been “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions”.
The Associated Press was not immediately able to independently verify that information.
In an earlier statement, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said a number of wounded people, including the Cuban patrol commander, had been evacuated and were receiving medical attention.
The highly unusual incident took place amid tension between Cuba and the US, which has blocked almost all oil shipments to the island, increasing pressure on the Communist-run government.
American forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on January 3, removing a key Cuban ally from power.
The speedboat came within 1.8 kilometres of a channel on Falcones Cay, on the island nation’s north coast and about 200 kilometres east of Havana, when it was approached by the Cuban border patrol unit with five crew onboard, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said.
The speedboat then opened fire, wounding the Cuban commander, the statement said.
“Faced with the current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defence is a fundamental pillar for the Cuban state in safeguarding its sovereignty and stability in the region,” the statement said.
The New York Times cited a US official saying that no US Naval or Coast Guard boat was involved, and the speedboat was an American civilian vessel attempting to get relatives out of Cuba. The vessel is a seven-metre Pro-Line fishing boat built in 1981 with an outboard engine, according to Boat History Report.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in the region visiting St Kitts and Nevis, said the incident was being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard, who were working to determine if the victims 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,” Rubio told reporters in Basseterre, St Kitts.
“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 said.
US Vice President JD Vance said he had been briefed on the incident by Rubio and that the White House was monitoring the situation, but declined to provide further details.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.
Officials with the US Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney-general, said he had ordered prosecutors to work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Florida congressman Carlos Gimenez decried the killings and accused the Cuban government of murder.
“This regime must be relegated to the dust bin of history!” he wrote on X.
The incident comes as tensions simmer between the US and Cuba following mounting pressure by the Trump administration. The two countries used to collaborate on drug smuggling and other criminal activity, but no longer do so.
It’s not unusual for skirmishes to erupt between Cuba’s Coast Guard and US-flagged speedboats in Cuban waters, but there have been no recent reports of passengers opening fire or being killed.
In recent years, some of those US-flagged boats were laden with unidentified items headed towards the island, or they were going to pick up Cubans and smuggle them into the US.
Speaking in St Kitts, Rubio said the status quo in Cuba was unsustainable and that the island needed to change “dramatically”.
Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
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