Cuban government says four killed in gunfire exchange with Florida speedboat

(New York Times) The Cuban government said it exchanged gunfire with a Florida-based speedboat that had entered its territorial waters Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding six others.

The vessel approached within one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel north of Corralillo, a town in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, according to a statement on the Facebook page of Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior.

Cuban border-guard troops on a government boat approached the speedboat seeking identification when the people aboard the boat opened fire on the Cuban personnel, wounding the Cuban vessel’s commander, the statement said.

“As a result of the confrontation, at the time of this report, four foreign attackers were killed and six were wounded,” the government said.

The wounded were evacuated and received medical attention, the government said. The government’s statement included what it said was the boat’s Florida registration number.

A U.S. official said the firefight involved a U.S. civilian boat that was part of flotilla to get relatives out of Cuba, adding that the vessel was not U.S. Naval or Coast Guard boat.

“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defence is a fundamental pillar for the Cuban State in order to protect its sovereignty and stability in the region,” the Cuban government statement said.

The Cuban government is in the throes of a critical energy crisis, largely because of Trump administration moves to block foreign oil shipments.

The boat shooting took place a day after the 30th anniversary of the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down, when Cuban military planes shot down two planes from a South Florida humanitarian organization that was distributing fliers in Cuba. Four people were killed.

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