Russia says boat incident near Cuba is ‘aggressive provocation’ by United States
Following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward Cuba, which had been largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela's oil.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday that an incident with a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of Cuba was an ‘aggressive provocation by the United States’ aimed at escalating the situation and triggering a conflict, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a speedboat on Wednesday and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the Cuban government said at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.
“This is an aggressive provocation by the United States aimed at escalating the situation and detonating a conflict,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by TASS.
Cuba’s government said it obtained the details about the passengers aboard the boat from the suspects detained following the shootout.
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.
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,” Rubio said while at the airport in Basseterre, St Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders.
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat refused to speculate on what happened, saying that it could be a “wide range of things,” and that the US will not solely rely on what the Cuban authorities have provided thus far.
“Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It’s not something that happens every day. It’s something, frankly, that hasn’t happened with Cuba in a very long time,” Rubio said.
US Vice President JD Vance said late Wednesday afternoon that Rubio had briefed him on the incident. He added that the White House was monitoring the situation.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” Vance said.
The shooting threatens to increase tensions between the US and Cuba.
Following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward Cuba, which had been largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil.
