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By Jordan King
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A United States citizen was killed when Cuban border troops exchanged gunfire with a Florida-registered speedboat, U.S. officials have said.
Cuba's Interior Ministry said it foiled an attempted terrorist attack when Cuban border guards shot at a speedboat heading for the island on Wednesday. Six people on board were injured, and four were killed, one of whom was an American citizen, according to Axios, which cited a U.S. official.
This was likely Michel Ortega Casanova, who was identified as one of the four killed by the Cuban government. His brother, Misael Ortega Casanova, told The Associated Press that his sibling was an American citizen who lived in the U.S. for 20 years as a truck driver.
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Why It Matters
The confrontation has taken place amid heightened U.S.-Cuba tensions, raising sensitive diplomatic and security questions.
A U.S. official said two Americans were aboard, including one killed and another injured, who is being treated in Cuba, and added that some aboard had criminal records. The Cuban government alleges that the group intended an armed infiltration with weapons and explosives.
What To Know
Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the country's Border Patrol intercepted a U.S.-registered 24-foot boat near Falcones Cay in Villa Clara province on Wednesday after it entered Cuban territorial waters.
Authorities said occupants on the boat opened fire, wounding a Cuban commander, and border troops returned fire, killing four and wounding six, who were then detained and given medical attention.
Misael Ortega Casanova said that his sibling became “obsessed” with overthrowing the Cuban government.
“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” he told the AP.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Florida told Axios it is investigating the theft of the boat, whose owner reported the vessel stolen from Big Pine Key and suspected an employee had taken it.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is gathering its own information.
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What People Are Saying
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now.”
He added, “Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time.”
What Happens Next
U.S. agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard, will continue their inquiries, while Florida authorities will pursue the Keys boat-theft case.
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