An officer from the Border Guard Troops of the Ministry of the Interior was injured in the abdomen during the confrontation with a speedboat registered in Florida that occurred this Wednesday off the northern coast of Villa Clara, according to the account provided by Cuban authorities.
During a national television appearance, First Colonel Ybey Carballo Pérez, head of the General Staff of the Border Guard Troops, explained that the commander of the Cuban interceptor boat was hit by gunfire from the intercepted vessel.
The injured officer, identified as Captain Yosmany, sustained a wound to the abdominal area while he was at the helm of the unit.
According to the official explanation, the aggression occurred when the coastguard boat approached to within about 185 meters to identify and persuade the vessel that, according to Havana, was illegally navigating in Cuban territorial waters.
Carballo Pérez stated that the protocol of action establishes that firearms are not used as a first response and that action is only taken when there is a direct aggression.
After the shot that wounded the captain, the other four crew members of the Cuban unit returned fire with their standard-issue weapons.
The military chief stated that the intercepted boat was carrying ten people and that as a result of the exchange of gunfire, several occupants were killed and injured.
He also emphasized that the injured officer did not leave the helm despite the severity of the injury and continued the maneuver until the vessel was neutralized.
According to the official version, after the confrontation, the injured were evacuated to land for their transfer to medical facilities.
Cuban authorities insist that the action was defensive and proportional, while the case continues to generate diplomatic tensions as there were American citizens and legal residents of that country among the victims.
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