The Kremlin said on Thursday that the Cuban coast guard “acted correctly” when it allegedly opened fire on a speedboat from Florida on Wednesday afternoon, claiming to kill four people aboard and wounding the other six.
“Cuban border guards did what they had to do in that situation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“The most important thing is the humanitarian component. Of course, the humanitarian issues of Cuban citizens must be resolved, and no one should create obstacles,” he said, derisively referring to the intense pressure placed on the rickety Cuban Communist economy by the United States.
Cuba’s military shot at a U.S.-registered boat Wednesday close to its shoreline, authorities said. (AP Digital Embed)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova likewise said the shooting was justified, denouncing the speedboat as an “aggressive U.S. provocation, aimed at escalating the situation and triggering conflict.”
The shooting incident occurred on Wednesday near the island of Cayo Falcones, according to the Cuban Interior Ministry. Cuban officials claimed the speedboat passengers fired first and injured the commander of a Cuban vessel that approached to demand identification. Cuban border guards allegedly returned fire, killing four speedboat passengers and taking the wounded into custody.
Later on Wednesday, the Cuban regime claimed all ten of the speedboat passengers were heavily armed Cuban nationals with a “known history of criminal and violent activity,” who were attempting to “carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.” At least one of the individuals named surfaced later, verifying that he was safe in the United States and neither in Cuban captivity nor involved in the incident.
Cuban officials said the boat was loaded with rifles, handguns, bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms, and Molotov cocktails. They claimed another suspect whose task was to “guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration” was arrested in Cuba on Wednesday and has “confessed to his actions.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the U.S. government had no connection to the speedboat or its passengers and had no additional information beyond what the Cuban Interior Ministry announced.
“We have our embassy on the ground in Havana working this as we speak,” Rubio said. “We’re gonna find out exactly what happened here, and we’ll respond accordingly.”