Americans have been on board a stolen speedboat that entered Cuban waters Wednesday, and not less than one American was one among 4 folks killed by Cuba’s coast guard after the occupants of the boat allegedly opened fireplace on the Cuban navy, the White Home confirmed to CBS Information on Thursday. The information was first reported by Axios.
4 folks have been killed and 6 folks aboard the boat, which got here from Florida, have been wounded and arrested, in line with Cuba’s Inside Ministry.
Along with the American citizen who was killed, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS Information that not less than one U.S. citizen was additionally amongst these arrested. At the least one of many boat’s occupants had a Okay-1 visa, the official stated, which permits a citizen’s fiancé to journey to the U.S. to get married, and others are believed to be authorized everlasting residents of the U.S., though it was not clear what number of.
Cuba in earlier statements had stated the occupants of the boat have been Cuban nationals dwelling within the U.S.
In accordance with the official and an incident report from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Workplace in Florida, the boat’s proprietor alleged that the vessel had been stolen by an worker.
The boat was one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino canal in Cayo Falcones when 5 members of the Border Guard Troops approached the boat for identification, the inside ministry stated. The folks on the boat then started capturing, wounding the commander of the Cuban boat, in line with the ministry.
The Inside Ministry claimed the ten folks aboard the boat have been armed with assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms, and have been trying to “perform an infiltration for terrorist functions.”
Cuba’s authorities recognized the 4 who have been killed as Pavel Alling Peña, Michael Ortega Casanova, Ledián Padrón Guevara and Hector Duani Cruz Correa. The six who have been wounded and arrested have been recognized as Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
Cuba stated Thursday that in earlier statements it had misidentified one of many males as Rolando Roberto Azcorra Consuegra, who it now says was not concerned.
The Cuban Embassy within the U.S. stated Thursday that two of the boat’s occupants, Sánchez González and Cruz Gómez, had been wished by Cuba and have been included in lists supplied to U.S. authorities in 2023 and 2025 of individuals “which were topic to felony investigations and are wished by the Cuban authorities for his or her involvement in acts of terrorism,” alleging that they “loved impunity inside U.S. territory.”
The U.S. has not publicly recognized any of the boat’s occupants or commented on why they have been in Cuban waters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Wednesday that the U.S. authorities did not have any info past what Cuban authorities had stated. He stated the Division of Homeland Safety, the Coast Guard and different businesses are investigating the incident.
“We’re gonna discover out precisely what occurred right here and we’ll reply accordingly,” Rubio stated.
Cuba’s Embassy within the U.S. stated Thursday on social media, “From the outset, and having detected that the vessel got here from U.S. territory, Cuban authorities have maintained communication about this terrorist try with their U.S. counterparts, together with the State Division and the Coast Guard.”
“An investigation is underway to make clear the information with the utmost rigor,” the embassy added. “The Cuban authorities is keen to trade info with the US on this matter. Amongst different requests, we’ll ask the US authorities for info on these concerned, the means used, and different particulars by means of the present mechanisms. The U.S. authorities authorities have proven their willingness to cooperate in clarifying the information.”
Misael Ortega Casanova, the brother of Michael Ortega Casanova, advised The Related Press his brother was on an “obsessive and diabolical” quest to finish Cuba’s communist authorities. He stated his brother was an American citizen who had lived within the U.S. for greater than 20 years and had labored as a truck driver.
The boat was allegedly stolen from the Huge Pine Key, Florida, property of Angel Walter Montera, who advised deputies on Wednesday that his 24-foot 1981 Professional-Line boat, registered in Florida as FL7726SH and that had been docked on the property, was lacking, in line with the incident report. Montera advised deputies he had not given anybody permission to make use of the vessel and believed a former worker who had completed tile work for him, recognized within the report as Hector Duardy Cruz Correa, could have taken it with out authorization.
President Trump not too long ago imposed new sanctions and tariffs on Cuba, escalating tensions between the Caribbean nation and the U.S. The strikes adopted an operation to seize former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
