The Cuban opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer suggested that the regime may have infiltrated the armed group that was involved in the confrontation on Wednesday with Border Guard Troops in the waters of Villa Clara, an incident that resulted in four fatalities and six injuries.
In a post shared on his Facebook profile, Ferrer stated that, according to the official version, the crew members "intended to infiltrate and commit terrorist acts," but he questioned that account. "If it were true that they were 10 armed Cubans with the desire to liberate Cuba, don't doubt that they might have been infiltrated by some agent of the tyranny and that they were awaited," he wrote in the message available on .
The opposition leader added that "the regime's intelligence may have used anti-communist Cubans to fall into a trap and present the tyranny as the victim to garner sympathy from the naive around the world."
In a previous video, Ferrer directly accused the Cuban government of initiating the gunfire against the vessel registered in the state of Florida. "With this act of firing upon a vessel with U.S. registration, killing four and injuring six of the people on board, the Castro-communist tyranny seeks to test the patience of the U.S. administration." He also stated, "I hope that a crime like this does not go unpunished and that the United States responds with all the energy that the situation requires."
The confrontation in the waters of Villa Clara
On February 25th, a speedboat identified as FL7726SH was detected approximately one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones, municipality of Corralillo. According to information released by the Ministry of the Interior, shots were fired from the vessel at a unit of Border Guard Troops that was attempting to identify it, leading to an exchange of gunfire.
The official toll was four people killed and six injured among those on board the boat, while the commander of the Cuban vessel was injured. Authorities stated that ten armed individuals were on board with assault rifles, handguns, incendiary devices, bulletproof vests, and camouflage uniforms, allegedly for "terrorist infiltration" purposes.
Subsequently, Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez stated on X that "Cuba has had to face numerous terrorist and aggressive infiltrations coming from the U.S. since 1959" and that “a thorough investigation is underway to clarify the facts”, while emphasizing that “the defense of Cuba's coasts, the national territory, and national security is an unavoidable duty.”
Among the deceased was identified Michel Ortega Casanova, a resident of Tampa. The identities of the other three individuals who died during the confrontation have not been officially released.
Pressure and questioning from the United States
From Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that the U.S. administration will not take La Habana's version as definitive. “We will verify this independently to know exactly what happened here,” he stated, also warning that “the initial reports are incomplete.” Rubio noted that official channels, including the embassy in La Habana, will be used to accurately clarify what occurred.
Along the same lines of caution, Vice President JD Vance stated that the government "is monitoring" the situation, although he acknowledged that they do not yet have all the information: "Certainly, it's a situation we are monitoring; hopefully it's not as serious as we fear. But I can't say more, because I simply don't know more."
Reactions in Congress also pointed to the need for transparency. Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar stated on X that “the regime lies, manipulates, and rewrites reality to protect itself. Its version of events can never be taken as the truth,” and called for “a complete and transparent investigation” by the U.S. government, with immediate access for survivors.
The congressman Carlos A. Giménez joined this demand, calling for an urgent determination of whether any of the victims were citizens or legal residents of the United States, while the mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, requested “complete clarification and total transparency” following the shooting off the coast of Cuba.
In southern Florida, members of the Cuban exile community expressed distrust towards the official narrative and emphasized the need for an independent verification of the facts, in a case that remains under investigation in both countries.
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