Cuba dénonce une tentative d'"infiltration" d'un groupe armé venant des Etats-Unis
Cuba denounced an attempt at "infiltration for terrorist purposes" after shooting dead four occupants of a Florida-registered speedboat off the island on Wednesday, amid rising tensions with the United States.
Four people were killed and six others injured after being intercepted in Cuban waters aboard a US-registered speedboat, the Cuban Interior Ministry said.
For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the United States was investigating the shooting.
This violent confrontation comes as tensions between Washington and Havana have intensified in recent weeks, with the de facto oil embargo imposed by President Donald Trump on the communist country exacerbating a humanitarian crisis that has lasted for years.
According to the Cuban government, the men on board the speedboat were in possession of, among other things, assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), bulletproof vests and camouflage clothing.
The members of the armed group are "Cubans residing in the United States" and "most of them have known histories of criminal and violent activity," the Interior Ministry said, which published the names of the six injured occupants of the speedboat, as well as that of one killed.
"Cuba must change radically, because it is its only chance to improve the quality of life of its population," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio just before the incident.
Previously, the US Treasury Department had indicated that Venezuelan-origin oil could be resold and transported to the private sector in Cuba, provided that the transactions did not benefit the Havana regime but "the people" of the island.
After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a surprise military raid on January 3, the Trump administration took control of Venezuela's oil exports and banned oil deliveries on which Cuba depended.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday as part of a diplomatic visit to meet with officials from Caribbean countries, said that Washington was investigating the shooting.
"As we gather more information, we will be ready to respond accordingly," he said.
When asked about the possibility that this episode involved US government personnel or was a US government operation, Mr. Rubio categorically replied: "No".
Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants born in Miami, recently claimed that the Trump administration hopes its economic influence will help to overthrow what he called the "illegitimate regime" in Havana.
According to the Cuban government, two of the injured "are on the national list of people and entities that (...) have been the subject of criminal investigations and are wanted by Cuban authorities."
Cuban authorities also indicate that a Cuban "sent from the United States to ensure the reception of the infiltrated armed group was arrested on national territory" and "confessed to his actions".
The speedboat was intercepted off the northern coast of Cuba, near Cayo Falcones, in the province of Villa Clara (central).
According to Cuban authorities, "shots" were fired from the vessel at Cuban personnel who were approaching to identify him, wounding the ship's commander.
Before Havana announced the presence of an armed group on board, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had announced the opening of a judicial investigation. "The Cuban government is not trustworthy, and we will do everything in our power to ensure these communists are held accountable for their actions," he wrote on X.
"I call for an immediate investigation into this massacre," said Florida Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez in a statement. "The Cuban regime must be consigned to the dustbin of history for its countless crimes against humanity," he added.
US Vice President JD Vance said that the United States was "monitoring" the situation.
The United States makes no secret of its desire to see regime change on the island of 9.6 million inhabitants and is applying a policy of maximum pressure on Havana, invoking the "exceptional threat" that this country, located only 150 km from the coast of Florida, would pose to American national security.
Washington has maintained an embargo on most trade with Cuba since 1960.
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