The Government of Cuba affirmed this Thursday that it maintains communication with the US Administration about the incident in its territorial waters that resulted in four deaths and that the US authorities “have shown a willingness to cooperate.”
Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, also reiterated in a brief statement that the illegal incursion of the speedboat with ten armed people on board was “an infiltration attempt for terrorist purposes.”
“From the first moment, the Cuban authorities have maintained communication about this terrorist attempt with their American counterparts, including the State Department and the Coast Guard,” said De Cossío.
He added that to clarify the facts “with all rigor” the Cuban Government “is willing to exchange with the United States” about these events. Havana is specifically interested in information about the boat’s crew, the means of transportation and other details.
“The US authorities have shown a willingness to cooperate in clarifying these unfortunate events,” he added.
According to the Cuban Government, this Wednesday the border guard troops detected a speedboat coming from the United States and stopped it for identification. Several shots were fired from the boat to which the border guard responded.
As a result of this exchange of fire, four of the ten members of the speedboat were killed and the other six were injured.
In addition, the commander of the Cuban vessel was also injured.
The Cuban authorities also seized weapons, ammunition and various military equipment.
De Cossío indicated that the identification of the ten members of the speedboat, all of them Cubans residing in the United States, has been completed.
The four deceased are Pavel Peña, Manuel Ortega Casanova, Levian Padrón Guevara and Héctor Juan Cruz Correa.
For their part, the six injured are Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordan Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
He stressed that the day before it was mistakenly indicated that one of them was Rolando Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.
He explained that among the seized objects were assault and sniper rifles, pistols, Molotov cocktails, assault and night vision equipment, bayonets, camouflage clothing, ammunition of different types, combat food, media and “monograms of counterrevolutionary terrorist organizations.”
The Cuban vice minister affirmed that this incident “is not an isolated event” and regretted that Cuba has been “a victim of countless terrorist acts for 60 years,” actions that —stressed— they have mostly been organized and launched from the US.
“The anti-Cuban groups that operate in the United States resort to terrorism as an expression of their hatred against Cuba and the impunity they believe they enjoy,” he said.
He also pointed out that the aggressors have a certain “feeling of impunity” in the face of “the inaction against them” in the United States and despite the fact that the Cuban authorities, “regularly,” provide their American counterparts with information on people who, according to Havana, are linked to terrorist activity.
He also recalled that two of the members of the boat expedition were on the list of terrorists prepared annually by the Cuban Government, a document that has been shared with Washington.
“The Cuban Government is still waiting for responses to the requests regarding them and the rest of the individuals and organizations included on the list,” said De Cossío.
Likewise, he ratified his “absolute and categorical commitment” against terrorism and added that Cuba “maintains an exemplary performance in confronting this scourge.”
“Cuba has the duty and responsibility to protect its territorial waters. Our efforts are consistent with international law that applies to all countries, including the United States itself,” the vice minister highlighted.
He concluded by saying that this is “part of the national defense of the Cuban State as an indispensable pillar for the protection of the sovereignty, life, security and well-being of Cubans.”
The US confirms that one of those killed in the Cuban operation was a US citizen
At least one of the four dead and one of the six injured on the Florida ship detained by Cuba in an operation were US citizens, while the rest could be legal permanent residents, according to a US official.
Another of Wednesday’s victims includes a man with a K-1 visa, which allows him to be in the country to marry a person with U.S. citizenship, the official added, who did not provide further details on the victims’ identities.
The injured man, who has been identified as a US citizen, is receiving medical attention in Cuba, he added.
The official confirmed in turn that the owner of the boat, with a Florida license plate, alleges that an employee of his company stole his vehicle and also that some of the occupants of the boat “have criminal records.”
The owner of the boat is a 65-year-old man who reported the vehicle as stolen from a dock in the Florida Keys once authorities contacted him after Wednesday’s incident, according to local media in Miami on Thursday.
EFE/OnCuba
