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(Bloomberg) — Cuba says a boat with 10 people near its coast early Wednesday was carrying weapons, and its occupants — Cubans living in the US — were intent on entering the country to fight against the government.
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The Cuban Coast Guard shot and killed four of the passengers while another six were injured and detained after the Florida-registered boat opened fire, according to an Interior Ministry statement.
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Cuba’s government said most of the passengers had a known criminal record. An eleventh person who had arrived earlier from the US and planned to meet up with the group was detained within Cuba, according to the statement.
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Those with previous records “are wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in promoting, planning, organizing, financing, supporting, or carrying out acts of terrorism within the national territory or in other countries,” the interior ministry said.
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Seven of the 10 occupants were identified by name in the statement, which listed supplies on the boat that included assault rifles, Molotov cocktails, bullet-proof vests, telescopes and camouflage uniforms.
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The incident threatens to escalate an already tense standoff, with President Donald Trump’s administration seeking to topple Cuba’s communist government after capturing its main patron, Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, at the start of January.
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Asked about the deadly confrontation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Wednesday that US agencies are conducting their own investigations to figure out what happened before commenting further.
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The White House is trying to squeeze the regime, which has ruled the Caribbean nation of 10 million people 90 miles south of Florida, for 67 years since Fidel Castro led a revolution that toppled a US-backed dictator. Trump has imposed an energy blockade and the Cuban government is digging in even as its electricity grid buckles and its citizens struggle to meet basic needs.
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“We are going to find out exactly what happened here and we will respond accordingly,” Rubio said Wednesday evening before leaving St. Kitts, where he attended the Caricom summit. “We’re going to have our own information,” the secretary added. “Suffice to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that.”
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The vessel in question is a 24-foot Pro-Line fishing boat built in 1981 with an outboard engine, according to Boat History Report, based on the registration number provided by the Cuban government.
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The Pentagon, US Southern Command and the US Coast Guard didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Cuba has long depended on economic benefactors to sustain its one-party system, dating back to the Soviet Union and more recently Venezuela under the late Hugo Chavez. But the US detained Maduro, who succeeded Chavez, in Caracas on Jan. 3 and has ordered other nations to cut energy exports to Cuba.
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