Cuban soldiers killed four Americans in a speedboat confrontation off the island’s coast on Wednesday, according to the AP—the most violent incident between the two countries in decades.
Cuba’s government claims the 10 passengers on the Florida-registered speedboat were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who opened fire on soldiers first while attempting to “infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.” One Cuban officer was injured. Six others on the boat were wounded and detained.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who learned about the shooting before Cuba announced it publicly, refused to take Havana’s account at face value. “Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that,” Rubio told reporters in St. Kitts. “It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
The U.S. is now scrambling to verify whether the victims were American citizens or permanent residents. The Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard are both investigating.
Cuba identified one of the dead as Michel Ortega Casanova. His brother Misael told the AP that Michel was an American citizen who had lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, working as a truck driver. He leaves behind a wife, mother, two sisters, and a pregnant daughter.
“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Misael said of his brother’s apparent mission. “My mother is devastated.”
Cuba’s Interior Ministry claims the majority of those aboard “have a known history of criminal and violent activity” and named two as wanted terror suspects. The boat was reportedly about a mile off Cuba’s north coast near Cayo Falcones when the confrontation occurred.
One of the men Cuba identified, Conrado Galindo Sariol, had been interviewed last year by Martí Noticias, a U.S.-based outlet that advocates for regime change in Cuba. He called himself a former political prisoner and spoke about supporting Cuban protests. The host called him “a legend.”
The timing couldn’t be worse for U.S.-Cuba relations, which have deteriorated rapidly since Trump took office. After ousting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the administration has turned its sights on Havana. Last month, Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba—squeezing the island’s already dire energy crisis.
Vice President JD Vance said the White House is monitoring the situation. “Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced an investigation on Twitter. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable.”