Cuba-US tension after the clash at sea: four dead and accusations of armed infiltration

The killing of four people on board a vessel registered in the US by the Cuban border guards in the island’s territorial waters has fueled tensions between Washington and Havana, already at their lowest point in months. The Cuban Interior Ministry in a statement spoke of action against a group of “foreign aggressors” who entered the country illegally for hostile purposes.

According to the official version released by Havana, the Cuban unit intercepted the US vessel and was attacked, resulting in a firefight. “Following the clash, four foreign attackers were killed and six were injured, who were evacuated and received medical assistance,” the statement said. The captain of the Cuban vessel was also injured.

Cuba has been denouncing alleged armed infiltration attempts coming from American territory for months.

Washington: “We will not rely on the Cuban version”

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio he stated that the United States is gathering its own information on the incident and that it will not automatically accept the reconstruction provided by Cuba.

“We will not base our conclusions on what they told us,” Rubio said during a visit to St. Kitts and Nevis. “I am very confident that we will find out the truth about what happened. When we have more information, we will be ready to respond accordingly.”

US authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the presence of weapons on board the Florida-registered vessel.

Moscow defends Havana: “The Border Guard did what it had to do”

Russia has openly sided with Cuba. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskovdefined the reaction of the Cuban border guards as “legitimate”, claiming that the individuals on board the vessel coming from the United States had admitted that they wanted to carry out terrorist acts on the island’s territory.

“There is nothing to comment on,” Peskov said. “As reported from Havana, the captured citizens were attempting to enter the island with weapons in hand and admitted that they intended to commit terrorist acts. This is their own admission.”