- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2181
Cuba’s deputy foreign minister has said that the island’s government is communicating with officials from the US following the fatal shooting of four armed assailants on a speedboat from the US in Cuban waters.
Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said the Cuban government is willing to exchange information with US officials, adding that Cuba plans to ask them for information on the suspects involved and what means they used to organise the trip.
The deputy minister added that the US government has shown willingness “to co-operate in clarifying the facts.”
Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior said that a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the US opened fire on soldiers off the island’s north coast, and that troops responded, killing four suspects and injuring six others. One Cuban official was also injured, the government said.
A US source said that at least one US citizen was killed and another wounded in the incident.
The source said another member of the 10-person crew was in the US on a visa, and several others may have been green card holders.
The source said the owner of the boat has alleged that the speedboat was stolen by one of his employees.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Florida Keys said the owner reported the boat stolen after receiving calls from reporters and said he had not seen his 24-foot boat docked at the property in more than a week.
Cuba’s government has accused the people on the boat of planning to invade the island and unleash terrorism.
Cossio said authorities found assault and sniper rifles, pistols, night vision equipment, bayonets, camouflage clothing, combat rations, communication equipment “and a large number of insignia from counter-revolutionary terrorist organisations.”
He added: “This information is still preliminary. More details will be provided in the coming days.”
Cuba has since released photographs of the numerous weapons, ammunition, and tactical gear confiscated from the gunmen who recently attempted what it has called an “armed infiltration for terrorist purposes” off the island nation’s coast.
The authorities seized a number of weapons, 134 magazines and a total of 12,846 rounds of ammunition of various calibres. They also allegedly captured a drone, a portable generator and ten communications devices.
Each of the gunmen also had a prepared individual kit, which included a rifle, pistol, knife, camouflage uniform, balaclava, helmet, medkit and “other attachments,” Cuban news outlet Cubadebate reported.
Photographs of the seized equipment released by the Cuban Embassy in the US show a number of AR-15 rifles and other weapons, as well as Molotov cocktails. Some of the helmets appear to be equipped with night or thermal vision.
Deputy Foreign Minister de Cossío said that the incident was not isolated but was part of a 60-year pattern of “attacks and countless terrorist acts … organised, financed, and carried out from the territory of the United States.”
