Cuban Coast Guard Incident with Florida Speedboat
The Kremlin stated on Thursday that the Cuban coast guard “acted correctly” during an incident where it allegedly fired on a speedboat from Florida, resulting in the deaths of four crew members and injuries to six others.
“The Cuban Border Patrol did what they had to do in that situation,” remarked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov emphasized the humanitarian angle, mentioning that the well-being of the Cuban people needs addressing and hinting at the U.S. pressures on Cuba’s struggling economy.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also expressed support for the Cuban action, asserting that the shooting was warranted and described the speedboat’s presence as “an offensive provocation of the United States aimed at escalating the situation and provoking conflict.”
The shooting took place near Cayo Falcones Island, as reported by Cuba’s Interior Ministry. Officials indicated that passengers on the speedboat fired first, injuring the captain of the Cuban boat while attempting to seek identification. Cuban border guards retaliated, resulting in four casualties among the speedboat’s passengers and leading to the capture of the wounded.
Later on Wednesday, the Cuban government asserted that all ten passengers were heavily armed Cuban nationals with a “known history of criminal activity and violent behavior,” claiming they intended to “infiltrate for terrorist purposes.” However, at least one individual later surfaced in the U.S., stating he was safe, not in custody in Cuba, and not involved in the incident.
Cuban authorities alleged that the boat carried an arsenal, including rifles, handguns, bulletproof vests, camouflage attire, and Molotov cocktails. They also mentioned the arrest of another suspect in Cuba who reportedly confessed to facilitating this armed infiltration.
In response, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the government had no ties to the speedboat or its occupants, stating they were operating based only on the information released by Cuba’s Interior Ministry.
Rubio added, “We have an embassy on the ground in Havana and are working on this as we speak. We’re going to look into exactly what happened here and respond accordingly.”
