US citizen among the four dead on the speedboat intercepted by Cuba
The State Department has confirmed that one of the six injured is also from the United States
Two U.S. citizens were among the 10 people aboard the boat from Florida that was captured by the Cuban Coast Guard in a shootout that left four dead and six wounded, the U.S. State Department confirmed. Another person on board held a K-1 visa, which is granted to foreigners who are going to marry U.S. citizens. “Others may be legal permanent residents,” the spokesperson added.
One of the U.S. citizens was killed, and the second was injured, a department spokesperson confirmed. According to the official, the boat was reported stolen in Florida.
The eight-meter-long vessel had been docked at a pier in the Florida Keys, and its owner noticed its absence around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the day the incident took place, according to the complaint filed at the time with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The family that owns the vessel states that the fishing boat, a Carolina Skiff, was stolen by an employee of their construction company and that they only learned of their vessel’s role in the incident when the Cuban government released the news.
The circumstances of the incident are still very unclear. The United States has indicated that it wants to conduct its own investigation: “We are going to verify that information independently and reach our own conclusions,” promised U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is participating in the annual summit of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Once Washington has a clear understanding of exactly what happened, it will respond “appropriately,” added the U.S. Secretary of State, who also expressed his government’s interest in speaking with the survivors to learn precisely what occurred. Rubio denied any involvement by Washington in the incident.
According to the Cuban government, the Coast Guard detected an illegal vessel with Florida registration in Cuban territorial waters near Falcones Cay, in the center of the island. When the Coast Guard approached, the occupants of the vessel opened fire, and the Cuban military personnel returned fire. One of them, the unit’s commander, was also wounded. Following the shootout, the Coast Guard confiscated firearms, ammunition, homemade explosives, and other military equipment.
The Cuban government has identified the dead as Pavel Alling Peña, Michael Ortega Casanova, Ledián Padrón Guevara, and Hector Duani Cruz Correa. The survivors, who are being held in custody, are Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said that they were all Cuban residents in the United States, and argued that it was a “terrorist attempt” because they were armed.
Representative from the Cuban government also said the United States cooperating to clarifying the incident, which comes at a particularly delicate time for both countries: the United States has tightened its embargo on the island and threatened sanctions against countries that supply it with oil, while U.S. President Donald Trump maintains that bilateral talks, with Rubio leading the Washington side, are underway regarding the island’s future.
Trump has demanded “dramatic changes very soon” and has repeatedly expressed his opinion that the regime “is ready to fall” given the fuel shortage, which has led the island to experience its worst economic crisis in decades.
“From the outset, Cuban authorities have maintained communication regarding this terrorist attempt with their U.S. counterparts, including the State Department and the Coast Guard,” Fernández de Cossío noted. He also expressed his government’s willingness to “exchange information with the U.S.” Specifically, Havana is interested in data about the crew members and the vessel itself. “U.S. governemnt authorities have expressed their willingness to cooperate in clarifying these regrettable events,” the high-ranking official stated.
The deputy minister also maintained that Cuba had previously warned the United States about an increase in “terrorist plots against Cuba” by individuals and groups based in the United States, but Washington had refused to intervene. According to Havana, Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Cruz Gómez already had criminal records and appeared on a list of suspected terrorists compiled by the U.S. government.
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