Cuba Says Soldiers Killed 4 Aboard Florida-Registered Boat After Exchange of Gunfire
Cuban authorities said Wednesday that soldiers fatally shot four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speedboat after those onboard allegedly opened fire first while inside Cuban waters.
According to a brief statement from Cuba’s Interior Ministry, the confrontation occurred roughly 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the island’s northern coast. Officials said one Cuban officer was injured in the incident.
Authorities identified four suspects as dead and six others as wounded but offered few additional details about the circumstances leading up to the exchange. The ministry stated that Cuba’s government was “safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region.”
The government released the boat’s registration number. However, it is difficult to verify ownership or related information because boat registrations in Florida are not publicly accessible. It remains unclear why the vessel and its occupants were in Cuban waters.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had been informed of the episode and that U.S. officials are now working to determine whether any of those involved were American citizens or lawful permanent residents.
“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now.”
Rubio declined to speculate about the sequence of events, cautioning that the facts remain incomplete.
“It could be a wide range of things,” he said, adding that the United States would not rely solely on information released by Cuban authorities.
“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said later Wednesday that Rubio had briefed him on the situation. The White House, he said, was monitoring developments but had no further information to release.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.
The episode risks further straining relations between Washington and Havana amid heightened political tension. Following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have taken an increasingly confrontational approach toward Cuba. The island nation had long depended on Venezuelan oil shipments to support its struggling economy.
Cuba’s ongoing energy crisis deepened last month after Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. The measure placed added pressure on Mexico, which had become a key petroleum supplier to the island after oil shipments from Venezuela were halted.
Rubio has argued that meaningful change in Cuba requires sweeping reforms, stating that the Cuban government must enact “dramatic reforms that open the space for both economic and eventually political freedom for the people of Cuba.”
While encounters between Cuba’s Coast Guard and U.S.-flagged speedboats are not uncommon in Cuban waters, recent reports of armed passengers firing weapons or fatalities in such incidents have been rare.
In previous years, some U.S.-flagged boats intercepted near the island were reportedly carrying unidentified cargo bound for Cuba or attempting to retrieve Cuban nationals for smuggling into the United States.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he has directed prosecutors to coordinate with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to begin an investigation into the incident.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on X.
Florida Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez also condemned the deaths and accused Cuban authorities of wrongdoing. “This regime must be relegated to the dust bin of history!” he wrote on X.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
