Cuban officials said a Florida-registered speedboat violated their territorial waters on Wednesday, kicking off an armed confrontation with Cuban border guard troops in which four people on the vessel were killed.
Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior posted a statement about the confrontation on social media. A commander of the Cuban border guard was injured, as well as six people on the U.S. boat, the statement said.
The statement said that the people on the U.S.-registered vessel initiated the firefight, which took place one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel off Cuba’s north coast.
“When a surface unit of the Border Guard Troops of the Ministry of the Interior, carrying five service members, approached the vessel for identification, the crew of the violating speedboat opened fire on the Cuban personnel, resulting in the injury of the commander of the Cuban vessel,” the statement said.
The injured people were evacuated and received medical assistance, according to the statement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. would carry out an independent investigation about the incident before responding.
“We’re going to find out exactly what happened here, and then we’ll respond accordingly,” he said while attending a conference with Caribbean leaders in St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday.
Rubio said, “It is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens everyday. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
The U.S. Coast Guard is in constant contact with the Cuban border guard, Rubio said, and he had been made aware of the incident on Wednesday morning.
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he was aware of the incident but did not have additional details.
“We don’t know a whole lot of details, and so I’ll defer to to the White House to provide more updates as we get them,” he said during a Q&A following an announcement about fraud. “Certainly, you know, a situation that we’re monitoring, hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be. But can’t say more, because I just don’t know more.”
The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Cuba over the Trump administration’s restriction of oil shipments to the country, especially from Venezuela, though the U.S. announced on Wednesday it would allow some sales to Cuba’s private sector.
Several Florida officials have called for an investigation into the incident.
State Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a post on X that he has “directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to work with our federal, state, and law enforcement partners to begin an investigation.” He added that the “Cuban government cannot be trusted.”
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., called the confrontation a “massacre” and said the U.S. must determine what happened and whether any citizens or U.S. residents were victims.
Similarly, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called for an investigation of the shooting and said that the Cuban government’s version of events could not be trusted “without scrutiny.”
“My office has contacted the State Department for more information, but it’s notable that this occurred in spite of ongoing Trump Administration negotiations with the Cuban regime,” she said in a post on X.
