Cuba says it killed heavily armed exiles who attacked from US-registered speedboat | Cuba

Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others when they sailed into its waters on a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the country’s government said, at a time when tensions with the United States were rising.

Cuba’s interior ministry said the group consisted of anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted for planning attacks. They reportedly arrived from the United States dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights.

The Ministry said that the injured were evacuated and received medical attention, and a Cuban patrol commander was also injured.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters it was not a US operation and no US government personnel were involved. He said Cuban officials had informed the United States of the incident, but that the U.S. embassy in Havana would try to independently verify what happened.

“We will not base our conclusions on what they did. [Cuba] Rubio told reporters during his trip to the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis:

“As we gather more information, we will be prepared to respond accordingly,” he said. “Suffice it to say that it is extremely unusual to see this type of conflict on the high seas.”

Florida’s attorney general said he had ordered an investigation into the incident. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted and we will do everything we can to hold these communists accountable,” James Uthmeier said.

Cuba announced that it had identified the six detainees on the boat; two of them, Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, previously claimed that they were wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts.

The other four were identified as Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castello, Cristián Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.

In addition, Cuba said it arrested another Cuban on Cuban soil, Duniel Hernández Santos, who it claimed came to the island from the United States to receive spies.

It was stated that one of the dead was Michel Ortega Casanova. Cuba said the other three dead had not yet been identified.

The conflict occurred in a region where soft farmland gave way to the Strait of Florida on whitened beaches beneath swaying palm trees.

The offshore keys are highly militarized, being a common spot for Cubans seeking to escape to the United States to launch their rafts, as well as for human smugglers to disembark in fast boats.

Many events took place in 2022, when the migration crisis in Cuba was at its peak. In June of that year, off the coast of Bahía Honda, west of Havana, Cuban authorities said they opened fire on a smuggling boat, killing one. Survivors said their boat was rammed by the nearby coast guard in October. Seven immigrants died, including two-year-old Elizabeth Meizoso.

It has been almost exactly 30 years since the Cuban air force shot down two small planes belonging to the Brothers of the Rescue, a Cuban exile group that dropped leaflets in Havana, killing four people. They claimed to have helped people escape the island.

The incident in which 45-year-old Carlos Alejandre, 29-year-old Armando Costa, 24-year-old Mario De la Peña and 29-year-old Pablo Morales died put an end to the thaw between the USA and Cuba.

The United States quickly increased its sanctions against the island through the Helms Burton Act, which allows U.S. companies whose property was seized during the 1959 revolution to sue foreign companies that use that property.

This is one of the most thorny issues between countries right now, and two such cases are currently being heard in the US supreme court. There are also moves in the US to bring criminal charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro for the Brothers to the Rescue murders, in the hope of creating a pretext similar to the intervention used in the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

The attack took place as the Trump administration partially eased the embargo on oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba due to the growing energy and humanitarian crisis on the island due to the US blockade.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday it will now allow American and some international companies to resell Venezuelan oil and petroleum products in Cuba, opening a potential lifeline between Cuban households and private businesses devastated by the cutoff of fuel imports from Venezuela.

The Treasury Department said the unusual guidance was issued in “solidarity with the Cuban people” and targeted efforts to “improve living conditions and promote independent economic activity.”

Tensions between Washington and Havana have escalated since the United States launched an operation in January to capture Maduro and eliminate one of Cuba’s chief allies in the region.

Administration officials led by Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a hawkish critic of the communist Cuban government, have called for more U.S. pressure on Havana at a time when the United States is flexing its muscles in Latin America.

The United States has cut an important lifeline to Cuba following its operation to capture Maduro by seizing control of exports of Caracas’ significant oil production. Before the raid on Maduro, Venezuela was a major oil supplier to Cuba. The US has also threatened to impose tariffs on other critical suppliers, such as Mexico, to halt oil and fuel deliveries to Cuba.

Directives from the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments stated that oil and petroleum products could be sold to businesses and private households but not to any government agency, in fact the Cuban government was to be relied upon to respect this regulation.

“This positive licensing policy is directed to transactions that support the Cuban people, including the Cuban private sector (e.g., exports for commercial and humanitarian purposes in Cuba),” the guide read, but prohibited transactions with “the Cuban military, intelligence services, or other government agencies.”

It is currently believed that the Cuban government has issued 10 licenses to private businesses to bring fuel in tanks called ISO tanks, which fit standard container spaces on cargo ships. But this will not alleviate the crisis much. It is estimated that Cuba needs 100,000 barrels per day to function well.

The embargo caused a serious energy crisis on the island. Large parts of the country are affected by power outages that can last 12 to 20 hours a day. Regional leaders have said the blockade and resulting economic crisis could impact migration, security and economic stability elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Mexico’s foreign ministry announced Wednesday that it sent a second shipment of humanitarian aid, including beans and powdered milk, on Tuesday. Canada also announced that it would provide $6.7 million in food aid through the UN instead of the Cuban government for the first time.

“This is Canadian foreign policy,” said Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign minister. “We focused on the humanitarian situation”

Rubio was reassuring leaders at a meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in St Kitts and Nevis. Jamaican prime minister and outgoing Caricom president Andrew Holness said he supported “constructive dialogue between Cuba and the United States aimed at de-escalation, reform and stability.”

With agencies