Cuba’s Interior Ministry said its border guards approached the vessel for identification when the crew “opened fire,” injuring the Cuban commander.
Cuba’s Interior Ministry reported that four men aboard a US-registered speedboat were killed after opening fire on a Cuban coast guard vessel near Cayo Falcones on Wednesday morning. Six additional passengers were wounded and received medical care.
The ministry said the Florida-registered vessel, carrying at least 10 people, was detected in Cuban waters off the country’s northern coast in Villa Clara province. When five members of the Cuban border guard approached the speedboat to verify its identity, the crew allegedly opened fire, injuring the Cuban commander.
The Cuban government later said that the 10 passengers who opened fire on soldiers were Cubans who had been living in the US and were seeking to infiltrate the island nation for the purpose of committing terrorism, the AP reports. The government claimed that the passengers on the boat "have a known history of criminal and violent activity."
Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez were identified by the Cuban government and are said to have been wanted by authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism.”
“As a consequence of the confrontation, as of the time of this report, four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six injured,” the ministry said in a statement posted via the Cuban Embassy in Washington. The wounded were evacuated and provided medical assistance.
The Interior Ministry did not at first provide details on the identity of those aboard the boat or why it was in Cuban waters. Officials said an investigation has been launched to “clarify” the circumstances of the incident.
The speedboat was registered in Florida under the number FL7726SH. The ministry emphasized that the confrontation began after the vessel allegedly fired at Cuban personnel during an attempted identification.
Republican Congressman Carlos A. Gimenez issued a following statement after the reports that agents of the Cuban regime "executed four individuals aboard a Florida-registered vessel near Santa Clara Province, Cuba."
"The incident raises serious concerns about the use of lethal force against individuals on a vessel registered in the United States, the statement begins.
“I am calling for an immediate investigation into this massacre. United States authorities must determine whether any of the victims were U.S. citizens or legal residents and establish exactly what occurred. The regime in Cuba must be relegated to the dustbin of history for its countless crimes against humanity,” said Congressman Gimenez.
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