The Cuban government “is willing to exchange information with the American government” and has requested information about the ten crew members
Cuba said this Thursday that it had asked the United States to contribute to clarifying the incident in its territorial waters, which resulted in four deaths, and said that the North American authorities “showed a willingness to cooperate.”
The incursion of a speedboat on Wednesday with ten armed people on board, which Havana describes as “an infiltration attempt for terrorist purposes”, comes at a particularly delicate time between the two countries due to tensions arising from the United States’ oil siege on the island.
Cuba’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, added in a statement that, to clarify the facts “with all rigor”, the Cuban Government “is willing to exchange information with the American government” and that it has requested information on the ten crew members.
Cuba also released the identities of the four dead and six injured, and highlighted that they were heavily armed with assault rifles and military equipment, in addition to displaying “monograms of counter-revolutionary organizations of a terrorist nature.”
Cossío indicated that two of the members were included in the list of terrorists drawn up annually by Cuba.
The vice minister, who ratified the country’s “absolute and categorical commitment” against terrorism, concluded by saying that “Cuba has the duty and responsibility to protect its territorial waters.”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel spoke for the first time about the incident on Thursday, stressing that Cuba “does not threaten or attack”, but defends itself against terrorist attacks.
“Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability,” he wrote on social media.
At the same time, US authorities reported that two of the speedboat’s crew — one dead and one injured — are, in addition to being Cuban, US citizens. The island’s Ministry of the Interior had previously indicated that they were all Cubans residing in the United States.
Meanwhile, it was learned that the owner of the boat, registered in Florida (United States), stated that an employee of his company had stolen the boat from him.
The US Administration remained silent on Thursday. The day before, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, of Cuban descent, urged caution while investigating exactly what happened and said the United States would later act “accordingly.”
This Thursday, it also became known that, according to the Miami Herald newspaper, Rubio’s team met with the grandson of former Cuban president Raúl Castro, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, as part of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit.
According to an anonymous source, the talks focused on the possibility of Washington “slowly easing US sanctions” on the island in exchange for economic reforms, which would be monitored “month by month”.
The information deepens previous revelations from the North American media outlet Axios, which pointed to contacts between Rubio and Rodríguez Castro.
The Cuban Government has denied in recent weeks that negotiations are taking place. Cuba’s representative at the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón, recently told the EFE agency that this information is nothing more than speculation.
In turn, the UN resident coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichón, called for “moderation to avoid any type of escalation of tensions” while the speedboat incident is investigated.
Pichón also asked Washington for a “humanitarian exception” that would allow oil and aid to be sent to the island, claiming it was “the only way to avoid a humanitarian crisis with more serious consequences.”
The Cuban diplomat stated that he believes that “efforts are being made in this direction” during a virtual intervention from Havana at the usual press conference held by the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York.
Earlier this week, the US took steps to alleviate some of the pressure from the oil blockade on Cuba, facilitating the export of oil and oil products by US companies to members of the private sector on the island.
The UN Human Rights Office pointed out a few days ago that the United States’ blockade violates the United Nations Charter and international law, in addition to causing the “dismantling” of the food, health and water supply system on the island.
