Rare clash off island’s coast took place amid US oil embargo and heightened tensions between two countries
Andrew Roth and Ruaridh Nicoll at The Guardian:
Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into its waters onboard a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the country’s government said, at a time of heightened tensions with the US. Cuba’s interior ministry said the group was comprised of anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks. They came from the US dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights, it said. The wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention, while a Cuban patrol commander was also wounded, the ministry said. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told reporters it was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved. The Cuban authorities made the US aware of the incident, but the US embassy in Havana would attempt to independently verify what happened, he said. “We’re not going to base our conclusions on what they’ve [Cuba] told us, and I’m very, very confident that we will know the full story of what happened here,” Rubio told reporters while on a trip to the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis. “As we gather more information, then we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly,” he said. “Suffice to say it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that.” Florida’s attorney general said he had ordered an investigation into the incident. “The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” said James Uthmeier.
Cuba said it had identified the six detainees from the boat, two of whom, Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, it claimed were previously wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts. The other four were identified as Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. In addition, Cuba said it detained another Cuban man in Cuban territory, Duniel Hernández Santos, who it claimed had come from the US to the island in order to receive the infiltrators. One of the dead was identified as Michel Ortega Casanova. The other three dead had yet to be identified, Cuba said.
US/Cuba tensions flare up again, as Cuban forces killed 4 exiles and wounded 6 others.
