A Florida-registered speedboat packed with weapons, 10 Cuban U.S. residents, and what Havana calls a “terrorist” mission ended in gunfire off Cuba’s north coast Wednesday — leaving four men dead and six wounded in what’s shaping up to be the most volatile U.S.-Cuba flashpoint in years.
Cuba’s Interior Ministry says the group crossed into its territorial waters and opened fire when approached by border guards about a mile northeast of the El Pino channel. According to the ministry, the boat “was carrying 10 armed individuals who, according to preliminary statements from those detained, intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.” Authorities say they seized assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms, The Guardian reports.
Cuban officials said the occupants fired first, injuring the commander of the Cuban patrol vessel. In the exchange that followed, four of the men aboard the U.S.-registered boat were killed. Six others were wounded and detained. All were described as “Cuban residents of the United States,” and the ministry said most had criminal records in Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wasted no time framing the confrontation as an act of defense. On X, he vowed the island would defend itself against any “terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to undermine its sovereignty and national stability,” adding that “Cuba does not attack nor threaten.”
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautious tone. Speaking from St. Kitts and Nevis, Rubio said the U.S. would conduct an independent investigation before deciding how to respond. “We’re going to find out exactly what happened here, and then we’ll respond accordingly,” he said, according to Axios. He called a shootout at sea “highly unusual,” adding, “It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
Rubio stressed that the U.S. had no involvement in the incident and that much of what Washington knows so far comes from Cuban authorities. The Cuban border guard alerted the U.S. Wednesday morning.
One of the men killed was identified as Michel Ortega Casanova. His brother described him as a truck driver and American citizen who had lived in the U.S. for 20 years. An associate told reporters that Ortega wanted to “fight against a criminal and murderous narco-tyrannical [government].”
The incident comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana over oil restrictions and ongoing negotiations. Florida officials from both parties are demanding answers, with some labeling the clash a “massacre” and others warning that Cuba’s version of events cannot be accepted “without scrutiny.”
For now, both governments say they’re gathering facts. But with bodies in the water and weapons seized, this wasn’t a routine maritime stop — it was a shootout with international consequences.
