The Cuban government reported that on Wednesday, Feb. 25 a speedboat registered in the U.S. state of Florida confronted Cuban Border Guard Troops, resulting in four deaths and six injuries.
Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Cuba stated that the Florida-registered vessel approached within one nautical mile of the El Pino channel at Cayo Falcones, in the municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara province. Cuban border guards then moved toward the vessel.
According to the ministry, individuals aboard the boat opened fire on Cuban forces, injuring the commander of the Cuban vessel. A confrontation followed. Cuban authorities said that four people on board the boat were killed and six were injured during the clash.
The Cuban government stated that the injured “have been transferred and are receiving medical treatment,” but did not disclose their identities or further details.
The incident has drawn attention from the United States. Congressman Carlos Gimenez of South Florida responded on the X platform, writing: “Cuba’s dictatorial regime has just attacked a boat from Florida and killed people on board. This regime must be swept into the dustbin of history!”
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According to The Guardian, the waters where the incident occurred lie at the junction of farmland and the Florida Straits, with multiple small islands along the coastline. The area has long been heavily militarized. It has served both as a departure point for some Cubans attempting to reach the United States by raft and as a landing site for human traffickers operating speedboats.
Several similar past incidents
Several similar incidents occurred during the peak of Cuba’s migration crisis in 2022. In June of that year, Cuban authorities said they returned fire at a smuggling vessel near Bahía Honda, west of Havana, resulting in one death. In October, survivors said their boat was struck by a coast guard vessel nearby, causing the deaths of seven migrants, including two-year-old Elizabeth Meizoso.
Almost exactly 30 years earlier on the same day, the Cuban Air Force shot down two small aircraft belonging to “Brothers to the Rescue,” killing four people: Carlos Alejandre (45), Armando Costa (29), Mario De la Peña (24), and Pablo Morales (29). The group had dropped leaflets over Havana and said it was helping people escape Cuba. The incident ended a period of warming U.S.–Cuba relations.
Subsequently, the United States passed the Helms-Burton Act, tightening sanctions and allowing U.S. companies whose property had been confiscated during the 1959 revolution to sue foreign companies using those assets.
U.S.–Cuba relations are currently highly strained. In January this year, after the United States took action against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and removed him from Caracas, Washington assumed control over Venezuela’s oil exports and sales revenues.
This move cut off a key energy source for Cuba, which had previously relied on Venezuela as a major oil supplier. The United States has also warned of tariffs on other key suppliers, including Mexico, to prevent them from sending oil and fuel to Cuba.
