Cuba’s government said it killed four of 10 passengers on a Florida-registered speedboat who had opened fire on its soldiers and were allegedly trying to infiltrate the island with terrorist intent.
The deadly gunfight happened in Cuban waters early Wednesday, the Cuban Interior Ministry said. Six others on the speedboat were wounded and detained, the ministry said, identifying them as armed Cubans living in the U.S.
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Cuban state media reported, citing a ministry statement, that “preliminary declarations” by the detained men indicated an intent to enter Cuba “for terrorist purposes.”
The shootout has sparked both fear and hope that rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba could be brought to the brink. It comes as the U.S. has starved Cuba of its key supply of Venezuelan oil, crippling Cuba’s already fragile economy and leading to frequent blackouts and skyrocketing food prices. Meanwhile, some see it as an opportunity for the U.S. to further pressure Cuba towards regime change, especially since President Donald Trump has floated the idea that after the U.S. ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, Cuba could be next.
Here’s what to know about the gunfight and the context it occurred in.
How did the gun battle go down?
According to Cuba’s Interior Ministry, a speedboat approached within one nautical mile northeast of El Pino channel, to the north of the town of Corralillo in the province of Villa Clara. Five Cuban border guard troops aboard a government vessel approached the speedboat in order to identify the passengers when the people on the speedboat opened fire on the soldiers, the ministry said. One Cuban commander was wounded.
Four people on the speedboat were killed in the ensuing gunfight, while six others were wounded. The wounded were evacuated for medical treatment and detained by the Cuban government, the ministry said. The Interior Ministry said it also seized assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bullet-proof vests, telescopes, and camouflage uniforms that were on the boat.
The Interior Ministry said in its statement that the Cuban government was “safeguarding its sovereignty and stability in the region.”
Who were the people on the speedboat?
The Interior Ministry identified the passengers of the speedboat as armed Cuban nationals living in the U.S., according to late Wednesday reports from Cuban state media. The men were attempting an “infiltration” of Cuba with the goal of carrying out terrorism, the ministry reportedly said in a statement. The Cuban government said the speedboat was registered in Florida under the registration number, FL7726SH.
The ministry identified seven of the passengers, including Michel Ortega Casanova, who was one of the deceased. Ortega Casanova’s brother Misael told the Associated Press that Michel had lived for more than 20 years in the U.S. as an American citizen, worked as a truck driver, and is survived by his wife, mother, two sisters, and a pregnant daughter. Misael said “no one knew” of Michel’s plans but that he had fallen into an “obsessive and diabolical” quest to free Cuba, and Misael hopes Michel’s death “will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”
The Interior Ministry also named Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra as the six who were arrested, and it said they have a “known history of criminal and violent activity.” The ministry also said that it arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, whom it claimed was “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration” and who “confessed to his actions.”
How has the U.S. responded?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage and who was on a diplomatic trip to meet Caribbean officials in St. Kitts and Nevis, told reporters that the U.S. is investigating the incident with limited information at the moment.
“The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans. We will verify that independently as we gather more information, and we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” Rubio said. He said that U.S. government personnel were not involved and that the incident was not an American government operation.
“Suffice to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that,” Rubio added.
Rubio added that the U.S. maintains “constant contact” with Cuba “at the Coast Guard level” and that he was aware of the shooting before it was announced by the Cuban government.
Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he had been briefed on the incident and that the White House is monitoring the situation. “Hopefully, it’s not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can’t say more because I just don’t know more,” he said.
Still, some Florida politicians are calling for a more aggressive response to Cuba.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R, Fla.) said in a statement that he is seeking “an immediate investigation into this massacre” that would “determine whether any of the victims were U.S. citizens or legal residents.”
Gimenez also tied the incident to calls for regime change in Cuba, adding in his statement: “The regime in Cuba must be relegated to the dustbin of history for its countless crimes against humanity.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R, Fla.) shared Gimenez’s statement on X and urged a “full investigation into this deeply concerning situation” that would hold the “Communist Cuban regime” accountable.
Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said he ordered the state’s Office of Statewide Prosecution to launch an investigation alongside federal, state, and law enforcement officials. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he said on X.
Has this happened before?
The gunfight on Wednesday was not the first clash between Cuban and American vessels off the coast of Cuba.
In 2022, Cuba intercepted 13 U.S. speedboats alleged to be smuggling migrants to the U.S. In June 2022, one American speedboat was sailing west of Cayo Fragoso, north of Villa Clara, and entered Cuba’s territorial waters. During pursuit of the speedboat by Cuban border guards, a crew member on the speedboat opened fire using an automatic rifle, wounding a Cuban officer, according to the Interior Ministry. The U.S. Coast Guard later intercepted the boat and repatriated the migrants to Cuba, including one of the people allegedly involved in the attack.
Shortly after, Cuban border guards intercepted a U.S. speedboat north of Bahía Honda in northwestern Cuba. When guards tried to identify the people on the boat, they began shooting at the Cuban authorities, who returned fire, according to the Interior Ministry. One person on the speedboat was seriously wounded and later died, the ministry said.
“Once again, regrettable events occur as a consequence of the hostile and irresponsible migration policy of the United States government toward Cuba, which encourages human trafficking operations organized by unscrupulous individuals residing in that country,” the ministry said in a statement at the time.
Earlier this month, Trump renewed an emergency order that allows U.S. authorities to intercept and detain vessels en route to Cuba. The order was signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton following Cuba’s fatal downing of two unarmed U.S. aircraft operated by the Miami-based anti-Castro exile group Brothers to the Rescue, the 30-year-anniversary of which was on Tuesday.
“The Cuban government has not demonstrated that it will refrain from the use of excessive force against United States vessels or aircraft that may engage in memorial activities or peaceful protest north of Cuba,” the Feb. 13 order says.
The order adds that the unauthorized entry of U.S. vessels into Cuban waters would be “detrimental” to the U.S. because such entry could facilitate “mass migration” from Cuba. “It continues to be United States policy that a mass migration from Cuba would endanger United States national security by posing a disturbance or threatened disturbance of the international relations of the United States,” the order says.
According to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office, more than 850,000 Cubans migrated from Cuba to the U.S. between late 2021 and 2024.
What is the state-of-play between the U.S. and Cuba?
Already fraught tensions have risen between the U.S. and Cuba since the U.S. captured Venezuela’s Maduro at the start of this year and took control of Venezuela’s oil, which has been a major energy supply for Cuba.
The U.S. cut off the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, although the Treasury Department said on Wednesday the U.S. will allow the resale of Venezuelan oil to private business in Cuba, likely still at lower levels than the 100,000 barrels of oil a day that Venezuela was sending Cuba at its peak and that is needed to sustain the island.
Cuba, which was already facing an energy crisis and a dampened economy prior to the ouster, is now on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis. The situation, with fuel shortages, soaring grocery prices, and prolonged blackouts, has gotten so bad that Mexico and Canada recently announced humanitarian aid to Cuba.
Frictions have also been heightened by the Trump Administration’s threats toward destabilizing Cuba’s government. After the ouster of Maduro, which Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned, Trump told reporters that “Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now.” Rubio, who has long criticized the Cuban government, said in January, “If I lived in Havana, and I was in the government, I’d be concerned—at least a little bit.”
“Our #ZoneOfPeace is being brutally assaulted. State terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” Díaz-Canel posted after Maduro’s capture.
In addition to cutting off Cuba’s supply of Venezuelan oil, the Trump Administration imposed emergency tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba in what many saw as an effort to squeeze its economy and force political concessions. (The Supreme Court struck down a bulk of Trump’s emergency tariffs earlier this month, including those imposed on oil suppliers to Cuba, although the Trump Administration is seeking other mechanisms to impose tariffs.) “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump posted in January.
The U.S. has also been regularly striking small boats alleged to be trafficking drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters since September, killing around 150 people in more than 40 strikes, despite concerns from legal experts, lawmakers, and foreign governments that the killings circumvent due process and violate international law.
Still, the White House has appeared hesitant towards the idea of direct interference in Cuba. “I think it’s just going to fall,” Trump said in January. “I don’t think we need any action.”
“Cuba’s status quo is unacceptable. Cuba needs to change. It needs to change, and it doesn’t have to change all at once,” Rubio told reporters in St. Kitts and Nevis. “Everyone is mature and realistic.”
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