Cuba claims that the intercepted boat coming from the US had ‘terrorist purposes’

The Cuba’s Interior Ministry has reported that the 10 occupants of the speedboat intercepted in its territorial waters, which had departed from the United States, “intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.” According to a previous statement from Cuban authorities, the boat had entered territorial waters illegally. It said the crew members began firing on a Coast Guard vessel, which unsuccessfully attempted to stop the speedboat for identification.

Four of the boat’s crew members were killed by Cuban forces, and the other six were wounded. A Cuban officer also required medical attention. The Interior Ministry said that all the wounded were Cuban citizens residing in the United States. Havana reported the seizure of “assault rifles, handguns, improvised explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), bulletproof vests, telescopic sights, and camouflage uniforms.”

According to information from the Cuban authorities, two of the people injured were Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, whom the Caribbean government had included on its terrorist list. Specifically, both were listed in the section of people “subject to criminal investigations” and were wanted for their “involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support, or commission of actions carried out in national territory or in other countries, in furtherance of acts of terrorism.”

Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra were also injured.

Michel Ortega Casanova, a Cuban resident of the United States, was identified as one of the people killed on Wednesday. The investigation into the identities of the other three victims is ongoing.

Havana also reported “the arrest in the national territory of citizen Duniel Hernández Santos, sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions.”

The incident occurred on Wednesday when Cuban authorities detected “an illegal speedboat within Cuban territorial waters with a Florida, USA registration number, FL7726SH.” According to the Interior Ministry, the vessel approached Falcones Cay, in the municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara province (central Cuba), where a unit with five members of the Border Guard Troops approached it “for identification.”

Then, “fire was opened from the offending vessel against the Cuban personnel,” who in turn returned fire, according to the Interior Ministry’s account.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Cuba, after Washington imposed an oil blockade on the island and urged Havana to reach an agreement. In recent years, several incidents of this type have been reported — the two most recent in 2022 — with several deaths. In general, these cases are linked to attempts to irregularly take people out of the island.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition