Havana said the firefight occurred in the country’s territorial waters
Reportedly, a group of armed men on a U.S.-registered speedboat opened fire on Cuban border guard forces in the island’s territorial waters, escalating the already strained relations between Havana and Washington.
According to Cuba’s Interior Ministry, the incident happened on Wednesday near the northern coast of Villa Clara province, when Cuban coastguard units intercepted a Florida-registered speedboat operating approximately one nautical mile from shore. Officials said the vessel had illegally entered Cuban waters and was approached for identification before gunfire erupted.
Cuban authorities stated that individuals on the speedboat fired first, wounding the commander of a Cuban patrol vessel. Border guards returned fire, killing four people on the boat and injuring six others, who were later evacuated for medical treatment.
U.S. officials have yet to make detailed public comments. Florida Representative Carlos Gimenez, a Cuban-American former mayor of Miami, has demanded an “urgent” investigation into what he called a “massacre” to determine if any of the victims were U.S. citizens.