HAVANA, Cuba — Cuba’s government said late Wednesday, February 26, 2026, that four people killed during a maritime shootout off the island’s north coast were armed Cubans living in the United States who were attempting to infiltrate the country and carry out acts of terrorism.
The statement came hours after Cuban authorities confirmed that soldiers fatally shot four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speedboat that had entered Cuban territorial waters and, according to officials, opened fire first, injuring a Cuban officer.
Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the 10 passengers were armed and that “the majority” had a known history of criminal and violent activity.
The ministry identified two of them — Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez — as individuals wanted by Cuban authorities for alleged involvement in terrorism-related activities.
Conflicting Narratives and US Scrutiny
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American authorities were gathering their own information to determine whether any of the victims were US citizens or lawful permanent residents.
“We have various different elements of the US government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio told reporters in Basseterre, St. Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit.
Rubio described the incident as “highly unusual,” noting that shootouts at sea between the two countries have not occurred in many years.
He said both the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard were investigating and stressed that Washington would independently verify the facts.
“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that,” Rubio said.
“We’re going to have our own information on this. We’re going to figure out exactly what happened.”
He added that it was not a US government operation and declined to speculate about who owned the boat or why it entered Cuban waters.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said it would pursue answers “through every legal and diplomatic channel available,” citing conflicting accounts.
Who Was on the Boat
Cuban authorities said they obtained details about the passengers from suspects detained after the shootout.
In addition to Sánchez González and Cruz Gómez, officials named Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila as being among those aboard.
On Thursday, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, acknowledged that the government had initially misidentified one individual, Roberto Azcorra Consuegra, as a passenger.
He clarified that Azcorra was not on the vessel.
Cuba confirmed that Michel Ortega Casanova was among the four killed.
His brother, Misael Ortega Casanova, speaking by telephone, said he was mourning but described his sibling’s actions as part of what he called an “obsessive and diabolical” quest for Cuba’s freedom.
“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand,” he said, referring to what he described as hardship on the island.
He said his brother, a truck driver and US citizen who had lived in the United States for more than two decades, leaves behind a wife, mother, sisters and a pregnant daughter.
“No one knew,” Misael said of his brother’s plans. “My mother is devastated.”
He added that he did not recognise the names released by Cuban authorities and expressed hope that his brother’s death might one day be seen as meaningful, “Maybe it will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”
Allegations of Armed Infiltration
Cuba said it also arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, whom officials described as having been sent from the United States to coordinate the reception of the armed infiltration.
Authorities said he confessed, though the Associated Press reported it had not independently verified that claim.
The Interior Ministry said the boat was about 1.6 kilometers northeast of Cayo Falcones when the incident occurred. Officials have not publicly detailed what the passengers intended to do beyond alleging terrorist objectives.
One of the men identified by Cuba, Conrado Galindo Sariol, had previously been interviewed by Martí Noticias, a US-based outlet critical of the Cuban government.
In that June 2025 interview, he spoke of supporting protests and achieving freedom for Cubans, particularly in the island’s eastern regions.
He was quoted as saying the regime was trying to prevent growing unrest and that protests were “not a spark that’s going to be extinguished.”
Rising Tensions
The shooting threatens to deepen already heightened tensions between Havana and Washington.
Since the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump and senior US officials have adopted a more confrontational stance toward Cuba, including measures targeting oil supplies that have exacerbated the island’s severe energy crisis.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba, increasing pressure on Mexico, which had become a key petroleum supplier after US sanctions disrupted Venezuelan shipments.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he had directed prosecutors to coordinate with federal and state partners to investigate the incident.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on social media.
US Vice President JD Vance said he had been briefed and that the White House was monitoring the situation. “Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” he said.
As both governments investigate, the episode underscores how quickly maritime confrontations can escalate into diplomatic flashpoints between two countries whose relationship remains defined by decades of mistrust and unresolved conflict.
