Related videos:
A team from the FBI arrived in Cuba this Wednesday to participate in the joint investigation of the shooting that occurred between Cuban border guards and the crew of a speedboat registered in Florida.
The incident took place near Cayo Falcones, municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara province, approximately one nautical mile off the northern coast of Cuba. According to EFE, the arrival of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team represents an unprecedented episode in the recent bilateral relationship between the two countries.
According to the official version from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), the vessel—identified with the registration FL7726SH—was carrying ten individuals armed with assault rifles, handguns, incendiary devices, bulletproof vests, and camouflage uniforms.
The Cuban border guards, a unit of five personnel, approached the boat to identify it, and according to Havana, the occupants fired first, wounding the commander of the vessel in the abdominal area.
The balance of the confrontation resulted in five dead among the crew members of the boat —four at the time of the shooting and one more who died later, and six detained, who are facing charges of terrorism in Cuba.
At least one American citizen died and another was injured in the shooting, according to sources from the United States.
The identity of the crew members sparked controversy from the very beginning: one of the names included in the list released by MININT appeared hours later on U.S. territory, casting doubt on the official narrative of the regime.
The family that owns the boat in Florida stated that the vessel had been stolen by an employee and that it was a fully family-oriented boat used for fishing activities, never intended for armed operations.
The FBI visited a residence in Miami Lakes linked to the records of the boat ownership, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier ordered a state investigation to clarify the circumstances and involvement of American citizens.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the incident as very unusual to see shootings in that open sea and stated that the United States would independently verify the facts.
On March 13, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed in a televised speech that Cuba had notified Washington of the incident through diplomatic and consular channels, and announced the potential visit of FBI agents.
We are awaiting the possible visit of FBI experts to participate in the clarification and investigations with personnel from our Ministry of the Interior, he declared.
This episode takes place within a broader context of concern regarding the activities of the Cuban regime.
Just hours earlier, the FBI publicly warned that Cuba poses a real threat to the security of the United States, particularly in the area of espionage, emphasizing decades of infiltrations into U.S. government institutions.
Counterintelligence officials emphasized that, despite its size, the island has developed a sustained capability to gather sensitive information and anticipate decisions from Washington, which adds a strategic dimension to the current cooperation in the investigation of the shooting.
In this scenario, the presence of the FBI in Cuba not only seeks to clarify what happened in the waters near Villa Clara, but also reflects the delicate balance between targeted cooperation and structural distrust that currently defines the relations between the two countries.
Filed under: