Cuba displays military hardware seized from Florida-flagged boat involved in firefight with troops

Описание: (28 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba - 27 February 2026
1. Various of weapons and supplies brought by men aboard a boat from the United States
2. US flag on a backpack
3. Communication systems, drone, assault knives, and weapons
4. Various of weapons and supplies
5. Box of bullets
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Víctor Álvarez, Colonel:
"What we do have is a confession of their violent intentions to attack even military units. Let me tell you, the weaponry they are carrying is powerful; it's not simple weaponry, not just two or three pistols. We've been investigating for 48 hours. That is to say, I think we need to move forward a bit more because new things must emerge within the process. But as of today, we cannot confirm that a reception committee exists here."
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ivey Daniel Carballo, Chief of Staff of the Cuban Border Guard Troops, First Colonel:
"We had no information about this. We maintain ongoing cooperation with the United States Coast Guard. We maintain an exchange and cooperation relationship with the liaison based here at the United States Embassy, ​​and the Cuban Border Guard troops were not alerted to the arrival of that type of vessel."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Top officials with Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior unveiled for the first time late Friday the items they said were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that opened fire against troops in waters off the island’s north coast this week, with soldiers responding and killing four suspects.

Victor Eduardo Álvarez Valle, one of the heads of Criminal Investigation for State Security at the Ministry of the Interior said authorities also were able to establish that the 10 suspects left in two boats, but one failed, so they transferred all the supplies to the remaining and left the other adrift.

The government said the detained suspects revealed those details and stressed that they immediately contacted the U.S. Coast Guard.

Among the items Cuban officials said were aboard a boat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the U.S.: a dozen high-powered weapons, including one with a scope; a big cooler filled with more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition; 11 pistols; heavy-duty boots, helmets with cameras; and camouflage backpacks.

"What we do have is a confession of their violent intentions to attack even military units," said Col. Víctor Álvarez.

Col. Ivey Daniel Carballo of the Cuban Border Guard Troops, said the 30-foot (nine meter) border patrol boat detected an intruder and approached to within about 600 feet (185 meters) to investigate, but it was met with high-caliber gunfire.

He said that three of the attackers were immediately killed and that a fourth was wounded and later died.

Carballo said the boat was located about one mile (1.6 kilometers) northeast of Cayo Falcones off the island's north coast. The border guard commander was injured, he added.

Alvarez, told the AP that authorities were surprised by the resistance they encountered.

He noted that officials detected 13 bullet holes on the border guard boat and 21 others on the suspect’s vessel, “meaning that there was combat.”

The Cuban government had reported Wednesday that a person had been captured on land, but Álvarez said that so far, there is no information that the suspects had any support network on the island.

Cuba’s prosecutor informed that the six arrested, all of Cuban origin, could face terrorism charges, which carries a possible sentence of 30 years in prison, life imprisonment or even the death penalty, although the latter has been on moratorium for more than a decade.




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