At the very least one American citizen was killed and one other injured in a lethal gun battle between Cuban border guards and a gaggle of people aboard a U.S.-registered boat that occurred off the coast of the Caribbean island nation, two U.S. State Division officers and a White Home official informed ABC Information on Thursday.
The U.S. officers additionally confirmed that one of many people on the boat was holding a Okay-1 visa, which permits foreigners to enter the U.S. to marry an American citizen.
4 individuals aboard the boat had been killed and 6 others on the vessel had been injured within the “confrontation” on Wednesday, about one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones within the Villa Clara province on Cuba’s north coast, the Cuban Ministry of Inside mentioned.
Cuban coast guard ships docked on the port of Havana, February 25, 2026.
Adalberto Roque/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
These on board the usregistered speedboat, which had been reported stolen in Florida, allegedly opened fireplace on Cuban border guard troops as they approached the boat in an try and establish it, the Cuban ministry mentioned Wednesday.
Within the aftermath of the gunfight, the ministry mentioned assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms had been seized from the speedboat.
The six individuals who survived the incident had been detained, the ministry mentioned, whereas one other man who was “a citizen despatched from the US to facilitate the reception of the armed infiltration” was arrested.
The Cuban ministry additional mentioned most of these aboard the boat “have a recognized historical past of prison and violent exercise.”
“We have now said this on repeated events and we reaffirm it as we speak: Cuba will defend itself with willpower and firmness towards any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to have an effect on its sovereignty and nationwide stability,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez mentioned in an announcement Thursday morning.
‘Confrontation’ off Cuba’s coast
Google Earth, Cuba
In an announcement on Wednesday evening, the Cuban Ministry of Inside mentioned the ten individuals aboard the speedboat had been “Cuban residents of the US,” who had been allegedly armed with weapons and “supposed to hold out an infiltration for terrorist functions.”
Regardless of claims on the contrary from Washington, Cuban authorities are nonetheless not sure whether or not the U.S. authorities performed any half within the operation and had been reluctant to grant American officers entry to the detainees, a Cuban authorities official mentioned Thursday.
The official additional mentioned that the Cuban authorities shouldn’t be involved with the citizenship or immigration standing of the alleged attackers as a result of, within the eyes of the regime, they’re thought of Cuban People as a result of they’ve been residing in the US.
A classic automotive is parked exterior the Arnaldo Milian Castro Hospital the place injured individuals had been being handled after an armed incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat and a Cuban patrol in Santa Clara, Cuba, Feb. 26, 2026.
Norlys Perez/Reuters
The speedboat allegedly concerned within the assault was registered to a 65-year-old man who was born in Cuba however resides in Miami, in response to a number of legislation enforcement officers. FBI brokers spoke with the boat’s proprietor and preliminary info indicated that he reported the boat stolen from a dock at a Florida Keys marina and isn’t thought of a suspect, in response to a report from the Monroe County, Florida, Sheriff’s Workplace.
Among the different people concerned within the incident are believed to be lawful everlasting residents of the US, U.S. officers mentioned, though it is not instantly clear what number of.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that details about the incident up to now has come from Cuban authorities.
“The vast majority of the data we nonetheless possess is what Cuban authorities are offering each the general public and the U.S. authorities,” Rubio informed reporters whereas talking from the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts on Wednesday throughout a go to unrelated to the assault. “As we collect extra info, then we’ll be ready to reply accordingly.”
A tricycle is embellished with US and Cuban flags in Havana, February 26, 2026.
Yamil Lage/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
The Kremlin seems to be backing the Cuban authorities a day after the gunfight.
“Cuban border guards did what they needed to do on this scenario,” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, informed reporters on Thursday morning, in response to the Russian state information outlet RIA Novosti.
“As for safety across the island, it is necessary that everybody stay restrained and chorus from any provocative actions,” Peskov added.
Florida Legal professional Normal James Uthmeier said Wednesday that he has directed the Workplace of Statewide Prosecution to launch an investigation and work with federal authorities to unravel what occurred.
“The Cuban authorities can’t be trusted,” Uthmeier mentioned.
The incident comes at a fragile time in U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations. Since final month’s capture and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on federal drug trafficking expenses throughout a large-scale strike by the U.S. navy on Maduro’s compound, the Trump administration has lower off Cuba’s major supply of oil, precipitating an vitality and financial disaster there.
The U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of International Property Management announced Wednesday that it could authorize firms searching for licenses to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba’s personal sector.
Trump introduced a plan in late January to impose additional tariffs on different international locations that present oil to Cuba, declaring a nationwide safety emergency concerning the island nation.
In an government order, Trump mentioned the “insurance policies, practices, and actions of the Authorities of Cuba represent an uncommon and extraordinary risk” to U.S. nationwide safety and international coverage.
“[T]he authorities of Cuba has taken extraordinary actions that hurt and threaten the US,” Trump’s order additional said, noting what it mentioned had been alliances with Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.
ABC Information’ Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.
