Cuba says gunboat carried US-based Cubans to infiltrate island

Cuba’s government said late on Wednesday that the 10 passengers on a boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.

The announcement came hours after Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speed boat that had entered Cuban waters and opened fire on the soldiers first.

Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity”.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio had told reporters earlier that he was made aware of the incident and that the US is now gathering its own information to determine if the victims were American citizens or permanent residents.

“We have various different elements of the US government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Mr Rubio said while at the airport in Basseterre, St Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders.

The Cuban government identified two of the boat passengers as Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez, who are wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organisation, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism”.

The government said it had also arrested Duniel Hernandez Santos, adding that he was “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions.”

The Associated Press was not immediately able to independently verify that information.

Cuba’s government said it obtained the details about the passengers aboard the boat from the suspects detained following the shootout.

It identified seven of the 10 passengers, including Conrado Galindo Sariol, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Castello, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.

Cuba’s government said that one of the four killed was Michel Ortega Casanova. Three others have not yet been identified.

“The investigation process continues until the facts are fully clarified,” the ministry said in a statement.

Misael Ortega Casanova, brother of Michel Ortega Casanova, told The Associated Press late on Wednesday that he was mourning his brother’s death but lamented that he fell into what he called an “obsessive and diabolical” quest for Cuba’s freedom.

“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand,” Misael Ortega Casanova said, referring to the “great suffering” that he and other Cubans on the island have faced.

He noted that his brother, who was a truck driver and an American citizen who lived for more than 20 years in the US, leaves behind his wife, his mother, two sisters — one of whom lives in Cuba — and a daughter who is pregnant.

“No one knew,” Misael said of his brother’s plans. “My mother is devastated.”

He added: “They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives.”

Misael said that he did not recognise any of the names that the Cuban government released.

He said that while he does not believe in heroes — “because that is ignorance” — he hopes that his brother’s death might be a worthwhile sacrifice: “maybe it will justify that some day Cuba will be free”.