US-Cuba Relations

Cuba: Armed Cuban infiltrators aboard the boat

The four people shot dead by the Cuban Coast Guard were Cubans living in the United States who had come to infiltrate Cuba and carry out terrorist acts, the Cuban government claims, according to the AP.

A total of ten people were aboard the motorboat, and according to the Cuban government, a majority of them have “a known history of criminal and violent activity”. Six people were injured and are being treated in Cuba.

The motorboat is reportedly registered in the state of Florida. It is said to have been in Cuban waters and opened fire on Cuban soldiers when they approached the boat. Cuban authorities also reportedly found weapons and Molotov cocktails on board.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the boat was not part of any US operation and that his government is now trying to find out if the victims were American citizens. He has previously said that the US will not trust the Cuban government’s explanation of what happened.

Cuba: Will defend us against terrorist attacks

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has spoken out for the first time about the incident on Wednesday in which the Cuban Coast Guard shot dead four people on a US-registered motorboat.

“Cuba will defend itself against all terrorist attacks on our sovereignty and national stability,” he wrote on X.

The post contains a link to an article in the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma, which states that the ten people aboard the boat were armed and were planning a terrorist attack on Cuba. All are said to be Cubans living in the United States, several of them with criminal backgrounds.

Michel wanted to “liberate Cuba” when he was shot dead: “I became possessed”

Exiled Cuban Michel Ortega Casanova wanted to go to war against the Cuban regime to inspire the people to rebel. This was stated by Wilfredo Beyra, a member of the Cuban Republican Party in Tampa, Florida, to AFP. The 54-year-old truck driver reportedly told Beyra about his plans several times before heading south in a small motorboat on Wednesday.

On social media, Ortega Casanova is being hailed as a martyr by Cuban exiles after he was killed by the Cuban coast guard, who say all ten people on board the boat he was traveling in in Cuban waters were armed and fired the first shots.

“To die for the fatherland is to live,” writes the Cuban association Casa Cuba in Tampa over his portrait. According to Michel’s brother Misael Ortega Casanova, he wanted to free the island from the communist regime.

“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences or their own lives,” he told the AP