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Havana says that the boat passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism
02:48, Thu, Feb 26, 2026 Updated: 02:55, Thu, Feb 26, 2026
Side mounted gun aboard a Coast Guard vessel (Image: Getty)
Cuban officials have claimed that the US-registered speedboat were not civilians, but terrorists 'with a history of criminal and violent activity' approaching the island nation.
The claim by Havana comes hours after its announcement that border officials shot and killed four people and injured a further six after the American-registered vessel opened fire on Cuban authorities while in their territorial waters.
Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
It identified two of them as Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, who are wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism".
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The government said it also had arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, adding that he was “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions", as per Associated Press.
Cuban flag imposed over an American flag (FILE IMAGE) (Image: Getty)
The update comes hours after Cuba's Interior Ministry (MININT) confirmed a US speedboat with a Florida registration number was detected within one nautical mile of the El Pino Channel on the island of Cayo Falcones.
A confrontation started, according to the official statement, when the "violating" vessels fired at the Cuban border guards, injuring the commander, after a unit of the Border Guard Troops approached the boat to identify it.
In its statement, MININT claimed that the "offending boat opened fire against the Cuban personnel, causing the commander of Cuban vessel to be injured. As a result of the confrontation, at the time of this report, on the foreign side, four aggressors were killed and six were injured, who were evacuated and received medical assistance".
A US official said the firefight involved a US civilian boat that was part of flotilla to get relatives out of Cuba, adding that the vessel was not US Naval or Coast Guard boat, the New York Times reported.
Marco Rubio has spoken to reporters from an airport in St. Kitts and Nevis, with the US Secretary of State returning from the Caribbean after a visit to allay fears of local leaders eft unsettled by Trump's recent policies and actions, including the rendition of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in a US military operation.
He said that US authorities are in the process of gathering intel to further understand the victims and what happened out in Cuban waters.
"We have various different elements of the US government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now," he said.
??????We harshly condemn this in the US Congress & find it lamentable that the JLP would cover-up for the moribund dictatorship in #Cuba, when the Castro regime repeatedly intervened in #Jamaica’s politics to exacerbate partisan tensions & undermine the JLP!
Jamaica will face the…
In the wake of the Florida speedboat confrontation, Republican representative for Florida Carlos Gimenez issued a statement claiming the Cuban government had "murdered" Americans.
"The dictatorship in Cuba has just attacked a boat from Florida and murdered those on board," he said, adding that the "regime must be relegated to the dustbin of history" and he is calling for an "immediate investigation into this massacre".
He then launched a blistering attack on social media against Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness, after the Caribbean has issued a statement on the boat killings.
Holness said in a social media statement: "We must speak plainly about what is happening in Cuba. This moment calls for responsible leadership and constructive dialogue, particularly between Cuba and the United States, to ease tensions and promote reform and stability."
The Jamaican leader then added: "Jamaica will continue to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people while supporting practical steps that lead to stability and shared prosperity for our region."
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Gimenez responded to this statement on X, formerly Twitter, to accuse the Prime Minister of engaging in a "cover-up for the moribund dictatorship in Cuba", before adding a clear threat: "Jamaica will face the consequences!"
Images on his social media feeds indicate that Holness met with Marco Rubio in recent days for "productive discussions" that reaffirmed "the strong and historic ties between Jamaica and the United States, and our shared commitment to working together for the benefit of our peoples".
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