New York, February 26 – Cuba says it killed four people on a mysterious US speedboat in a shootout in its waters, further escalating tensions between Washington and Havana. US President Donald Trump has declared the country an "extraordinary threat."
"We will determine exactly what happened here and then respond accordingly," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said about the Wednesday incident.
"It is highly unusual to see shootouts at sea like that," he said. "It's not something that happens every day. It's something that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time."
Cuba's Interior Ministry said that the people on the speedboat began shooting at its border guards when they approached it for identification on Wednesday morning, wounding the commander of the Cuban vessel.
When the Cubans returned fire, four "aggressors" on the speedboat were killed, and six who were wounded were evacuated and are receiving medical treatment, the ministry said.
It did not identify the people on the boat, but gave the registration number, which indicated that it was registered in Florida, just about 150 kilometers from Cuba and has a large community of exiles.
A boat with the number provided is shown in a vessel database as a 24-foot Pro-Line boat that is about 45 years old and can accommodate about 10 people.
The incident occurred on a day when the US made a show of slightly loosening the oil embargo it had placed on Cuba by offering to allow some Venezuelan oil to flow to it, but with a huge caveat that it can only go to the private sector in a Communist country where most of the economy is under state control.
Rubio, who is in Kitts and Nevis for a meeting with Caribbean leaders, said that US diplomats in Cuba were trying to get in touch with the wounded people from the boat to determine if they were US citizens or permanent residents and what happened.
Rubio denied that it was a US government operation or that government employees were involved.
Vice President J.D. Vance said in Washington that the US was monitoring the situation, and added, "Hopefully it's not as bad as we fear it could be."
"But I can't say more, because I just don't know more," he said, acknowledging the mystery of the boat.
Florida Attorney-General James Uthmeier ordered state prosecutors to investigate the incident and said, "We will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable."
Cuba's Interior Ministry also said it was investigating the incident.
"In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State," it warned.
Since the Communist takeover of Cuba under the leadership of the late Fidel Castro, the US has had an adversarial relationship with it.
Issuing several sanctions on Cuba and those involved in certain trades with it, Trump last month called Havana "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to US "national security and foreign policy."
He accused it of collaborating with Russia, Iran and various terrorist groups against the US.
Tensions flared to new heights after Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, a fast friend and ally of Cuba, was captured by US forces last month and brought to the US.
Cuba, which received discounted or free Venezuelan oil, is facing an economic crisis with the energy cutoff.
The US has wielded the oil weapon with expectations that a worsening crisis would topple the Cuban government headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
"Cuba needs to change, it needs to change dramatically because it is the only chance that it has to improve the quality of life for its people," said Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles.
The mystery boat brought back memories of the Bay of Pigs incident in 1961, when a band of Cuban exiles with Washington's clandestine help launched a failed attack by sea on Fidel Castro’s government.
Frequently, boats are used to smuggle people out of Cuba and shootings involving them and Cuban forces have been reported.
Earlier this month, Trump issued an order allowing US forces to intercept US boats heading to Cuba because of the extreme danger they would face.