President Miguel Díaz-Canel stressed this Thursday, in relation to the incident in territorial waters that left four dead, that Cuba “does not attack or threaten” but that it does defend itself against attacks.
In a message on social networks, his first about the incident the day before, the president wrote: “Cuba does not attack or threaten. Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability.”
In this sense, also on social networks, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, highlighted that “the defense of the Cuban coasts, the national territory and national security is an unavoidable duty.”
#Cuba It does not attack or threaten.
We have raised it repeatedly and we ratify it today:
Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability. https://t.co/2g3b28fktl
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) February 26, 2026
“Cuba has had to face numerous terrorist and aggressive infiltrations from the United States since 1959, with a high cost in lives, injuries and material damage. A rigorous investigation is being carried out to clarify the facts,” he added.
According to the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), this Wednesday morning there was a confrontation with firearms between a speedboat from the United States, which had illegally entered Cuban territorial waters, and a patrol of the island’s Border Guard Troops.
The incident, recorded on the northern coast of Villa Clara, left four of the ten members of the boat dead and a total of seven injured (the other six crew members of the boat and the commander of the Cuban boat).
The Minint assured after interrogating the detainees that the raid had “terrorist purposes”, that all the members of the boat were Cubans residing in the United States and that many had “a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
It added that two of the injured were included in its terrorist list due to their “involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, based on acts of terrorism.”
In addition, it reported the seizure in this operation of “assault rifles, short weapons, artisanal explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms.”
Likewise, he reported on the detention on land of another Cuban supposedly “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of armed infiltration.”
The confrontation occurs in a context of strong tensions between Washington and Havana, evident in the oil bloc imposed by the US on Cuba, considered contrary to international law by the UN Human Rights Office and which is deepening the serious crisis that the island was already suffering.
At the moment it is unknown if there is any relationship between the armed incident and the geopolitical context, but these events could contribute to increasing the noise and tension between the Governments.
