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Cuba's seashore defender changeable dormant 4 radical and injured six others travelling successful a U.S.-registered speedboat successful an speech of occurrence disconnected the Cuban enactment connected Wednesday (February 25, 2026), the Interior Ministry successful Havana said.
The confrontation comes amid heightened tensions betwixt the United States and communist Cuba, which lies conscionable 100 miles (160 kilometers) crossed the Florida Straits.
Cuba did not uncover the nationalities of the passengers aboard the U.S. boat, and U.S. officials made nary contiguous remark connected the incident.
The Interior Ministry said the seashore defender encountered the "illegal" Florida-registered vas 1 nautical mile from Falcones Cay successful Villa Clara province.
As the seashore defender vas approached, shots were fired from the US boat, injuring the commandant of the Cuban vessel, the Ministry said.
"As a effect of the clash, astatine the clip of this report, connected the overseas side, 4 aggressors were killed and six others were wounded," the ministry said, adding that the injured were evacuated and received aesculapian assistance.
The Cuban authorities often reports incursions by speedboats from the United States into its territorial waters.
The incidents are often related to quality oregon cause trafficking and person included chases, shootouts and equipped attacks connected borderline guards.
Human trafficking
Between January and June 2022, the twelvemonth of the largest question of Cuban emigration successful six decades, the seashore defender intercepted 13 speedboats coming from the United States, successful what authorities described arsenic "human trafficking operations from Cuba to that country."
Wednesday's shootings came arsenic Washington softened a virtual lipid siege of the land imposed by President Donald Trump successful January aft the US ouster of apical Cuba ally, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
Before Mr. Maduro's seizure by U.S. forces connected January 3, Cuba had relied connected Venezuela for astir fractional its substance needs.
Faced with an outcry from Caribbean leaders, disquieted that starving Cuba of lipid would origin the system to rapidly collapse, Washington said it would let shipments of Venezuelan lipid for "commercial and humanitarian use."
The Treasury Department said the exports would request to spell done backstage businesses and not the Cuban authorities oregon the subject apparatus which controls overmuch of the island's economy.
The announcement during a acme of Caribbean nations attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American who has spent his vocation hoping to topple Havana's government.
Since becoming the apical U.S. diplomat, Mr. Rubio has toned down his calls for authorities alteration successful Havana.
The U.S. lipid blockade successful spot for implicit a period has brought an already crumbling Cuban system to the brink.
Mexico connected Tuesday dispatched 2 subject vessels carrying astir 2,200 tons of assistance to the land — its 2nd assistance shipment successful nether a month.
Canada, for its portion announced CAN$8 cardinal ($5.8 million) successful aid.
