There is no shortage of news related to the United States. At one geographical point and another.
In this case, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Cuba announced this Tuesday that it has filed charges for terrorism crimes against the six survivors of the incident that occurred last week when, loaded with weapons, it entered the island’s territorial waters.
In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office He also reported that he has requested provisional detention for the six detainees, arrested after an exchange while traveling on the boat.
“The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic will continue to act in accordance with its constitutional mandate, within the framework of legality, in the defense of our people and the institutions of the country”said the organization.
A boat from Florida
According to the reconstruction released by the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba, d They left Florida at dawn in two boats.
During the journey, one of the boats suffered an engine failure and had to be abandoned. Its five occupants, along with the weapons and ammunition they were transporting, were then transferred to the other boat, a speedboat that, finally, entered Cuban waters.
The boat was detected at 7:10 in the morning by the surveillance systems of the Border Guard Troopswho sent a patrol boat to identify her.
Shooting a few meters away
The encounter between both vessels took place about two kilometers from the coast, more than ten nautical miles within Cuban territorial waters. According to the official version of Havana, the occupants of the speedboat opened fuego first.
The exchange of fire took place about 20 meters away. Cuban authorities counted 21 gunshot wounds in the suspects’ boat and 13 in the border guard patrol boat.
A confiscated arsenal
After the operation, the authorities seized a large arsenal. Among the seized material are fourteen rifles, eleven pistols, nearly 13,000 bullets and 134 magazines, as well as bulletproof vests, shotguns, knives, uniforms and military equipment.
Also found were a dronea satellite equipment, a power plant and several complete military modules.
The chief prosecutor of the directorate of the Fiscalía, Edward Roberts Campbell, He announced last week that the detainees face charges with a “high sanctioning framework,” which can range from ten years in prison to life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
An incident in full tension with Washington
The event occurs at a time of special tension between Cuba and the United States, marked by new measures of economic pressure from Washington and by the demands of the Cuban Government to open negotiations to alleviate sanctions.
The armed entry into the island’s waters now adds a new element of friction in a historically complex bilateral relationship and that in recent months it has hardened again.
