Cuba says it shot dead four people on a US speedboat

2026-02-26 07:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The four people shot dead by Cuban border guards on a US-registered motorboat were Cuban citizens living in the United States, the Cuban government said.

In a statement posted online, Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the motorboat passengers — four killed and six wounded, also Cuban citizens — opened fire on a coast guard vessel that approached them near an island off the country’s northern coast on Wednesday. The 10 individuals, some with prior criminal records, were armed and intended to “carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes,” the statement said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was also investigating the highly unusual incident. Cuba's Interior Ministry identified the six surviving passengers, who have since been detained, and one passenger who was killed.

They added that most of them have prior records involving criminal and violent activities. According to the statement, pistols, assault rifles and improvised explosive devices were found on the speedboat, along with other tactical equipment.

The Interior Ministry also identified an eleventh person who, according to them, had been arrested and had confessed to being part of the suspected plot.

In a previous statement posted on X, the ministry said the Florida-registered vessel - with the registration number FL7726SH - was spotted near Cayo Falcones, in the country's central Villa Clara province, on Wednesday morning. When a Cuban vessel carrying five members of the ministry's border guard approached the vessel for identification, "the crew of the speedboat that violated the rules opened fire" and wounded the Cuban commander, the statement said.

"As a result of the confrontation, as of the time of this report, four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six were injured. The injured were evacuated and provided with medical assistance," the statement added.

Before the Cuban government released the identities of some of the passengers, Rubio confirmed that the ship was not carrying U.S. government personnel and that an investigation was underway to “clarify” the incident and what the passengers were doing in the area. Rubio spoke from Saint Kitts and Nevis, where he had traveled to meet with Caribbean leaders amid the Trump administration’s efforts to increase pressure on the Cuban government, as well as on other regional issues.

"We will find out exactly what happened, who was involved, and we will make a decision based on what we find out," he told reporters.

He vowed that US investigators would move "swiftly" to gather key facts and that the US Coast Guard had traveled to the "proximity" of the attack. But he added that the US would not rely on information provided by the Cuban government and that Washington would independently verify the facts of the case.

"It's very unusual to see gunfire exchanges on the high seas like this. It's not something that happens every day," Rubio said.

The incident comes amid rising tensions between the US and Cuba, which is facing a deepening fuel crisis that has been exacerbated by the US blockade of oil shipments from Venezuela, an early ally in the region, to the island./CNA, translated by BBC