Cuba says Florida registered speedboat carried armed group into its waters, four killed as Havana displays seized weapons while US opens its own probe

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Cuba unveils new details in fatal US boat shooting and says a 2nd boat on mission failed independent.co.uk

Four people were killed and six injured off Cuba’s north coast on Wednesday after Cuban border guards exchanged fire with a Florida-registered speedboat that Havana says was carrying armed men on a planned “terrorist infiltration.” Cuban officials say the boat entered territorial waters near Cayo Falcones in Villa Clara province and opened fire when challenged for identification, according to BNO News and reporting carried by The Independent.

Cuba’s Interior Ministry says it seized assault rifles, handguns, ammunition, improvised incendiaries described as Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms. Authorities identified six detainees and said the group consisted of Cuban nationals residing in the United States. A separate suspect was arrested on land and accused of being sent ahead to facilitate the group’s reception, though officials have not released supporting evidence.

The incident lands in a familiar place for Havana: a security confrontation that can be presented as external aggression, with physical exhibits laid out for domestic television. Cuban officials told the Associated Press they later displayed the seized items at the former Cuban Institute of Radio and Television headquarters before broadcasting them, and said they had determined the suspects left the US in two boats, abandoning one after it failed and transferring equipment to the remaining vessel.

In the United States, the incentives run differently. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he directed state prosecutors to work with federal and state partners on an investigation, arguing that the Cuban government “cannot be trusted,” according to BNO News. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was not a US government operation and that Washington was gathering information.

Key questions remain unresolved because the available evidence is controlled by the Cuban state, while US authorities have not publicly produced their own account. The Independent reports that Cuban officials said they contacted the US Coast Guard shortly after the clash. A NewsNation correspondent cited by BNO News reported that the speedboat was registered to a 65-year-old Cuban-born man in Miami who said it had been docked in the Florida Keys and was reported stolen after he was notified.

That leaves three competing storylines in play: an organized exile operation, a criminal theft that ended in a lethal encounter, or a Cuban security case built around detainee statements and curated displays. Each has different implications for accountability. If the boat was stolen, the most important paper trail is in Florida marinas, insurance claims and law-enforcement logs. If it was an organized raid, the financing and procurement networks are likely to be in the US, not on the island.

Cuba’s chief prosecutor told AP the suspects could face terrorism charges carrying up to 30 years, life imprisonment or, in theory, the death penalty, though executions have been under a moratorium for more than a decade, The Independent reports. The case will be decided in Cuban courts, but much of the fact-finding will hinge on records held outside Cuba.

Cuban officials say their patrol boat took 13 bullet holes and the suspect vessel 21. The only publicly confirmed fact so far is that four people are dead and six are in Cuban custody.