Tension seems to be increasing between Cuba, the island country located in the Caribbean Sea, and America. This tension has occurred after the incident of firing on a boat coming from Florida late on Wednesday (February 25) night. According to the Cuban government, a boat coming from Florida fired on its troops, resulting in a skirmish that resulted in four deaths.
‘There were armed Cuban citizens on the boat’, claims Cuban government
The Cuban government said late Wednesday that the 10 passengers aboard the boat that fired on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and spread terrorism. The reaction came hours after Cuba said its troops killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speed boat that had entered Cuban waters and had previously fired on troops, wounding a Cuban officer.
US Secretary of State’s statement
The Cuban government said most of the 10 people on board the boat had a ‘known history of criminal and violent activities’. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier told reporters that he was aware of the incident and the US was now gathering its information to determine whether the victims were US citizens or permanent residents. Rubio said at Basseterre Airport in St. Kitts that many different departments of the US government are trying to identify aspects of this story that have not been told to us yet.
What else did the Cuban government say?
The Cuban government has identified the two passengers aboard the boat as Amizael Sanchez Gonzalez and Liordan Enrique Cruz Gomez, who are being sought by Cuban authorities for their involvement in promoting, planning, organizing, financing, supporting, or carrying out terrorism-related acts on the national territory or in other countries. The government said it had also arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, and reported that he had been sent to guarantee the reception of armed infiltrators from the United States, which has acknowledged its actions at this time.