The tension between Washington and Havana escalates again after the operation by the Cuban Border Guard Troop against a boat from Florida that left four dead. He assured this Wednesday that his country will respond “accordingly” once it has all the verified details of what happened.
“I’m not going to speculate or give an opinion; I want to know what happened and we will respond accordingly,” Rubio declared to the press during a summit of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The head of US diplomacy stressed that, for now, all the information comes from the Cuban authorities and that the Donald Trump Administration he wants to contrast it with “independent information.”
Rubio denied that there had been conversations with him Government Cuban on this matter and ruled out any involvement of US personnel in the shooting. Furthermore, he confirmed that the United States embassy in Havana has requested access to the survivors of the boat, presumably American citizens, to find out their situation and obtain their version of the events.
According to the Cuban Ministry of the Interiorthe incident occurred on Wednesday morning when a speedboat with Florida registration (FL7726SH) was detected within Cuban territorial waters. The authorities assure that the boat did not obey the order to stop and opened fire on the patrol boat. In the exchange, four crew members of the boat died and six other people were injured, in addition to the commander of the Cuban ship.
An investigation is opened
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, announced the opening of an investigation and stated that “communists will be held accountable,” raising the political tone of the episode. According to The New York Times, the vessel did not belong to the Coast Guard or the US Navy, but appears to be a Pro-Line type civil motorboat about seven meters in length, usually used as a fishing boat.
The incident comes in a context of strong bilateral tension, after Washington imposed an oil blockade on the island and increase diplomatic pressure on Havana. In recent years, similar episodes have been recorded, although without a death toll of this magnitude.
For now, the White House maintains public caution. The key will be independent verification of the facts and access to survivors. If irregularities are confirmed, Rubio’s warning makes it clear that the United States does not rule out a firm response.
