Live updates: What to know about deadly showdown with Florida boat and Cuba
Cuba says several people were killed after a Florida-registered boat was intercepted in territorial waters.
Here’s what to know:
Boat shot by Cuban authorities reported stolen, sheriff office says
The boat the Cuban government says arrived in its waters Wednesday carrying 10 armed men was reported stolen hours later from the Florida Keys according to a report from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The Cuban coast guard approached the boat and shot several of the men after taking fire from people aboard, according to a statement from the Cuban government. The firefight happened about one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones, off the northern coast of Villa Clara province in central Cuba.
— David Goodhue
Boat came from the Keys, Gimenez says
Congressman Carlos Gimenez told Fox News that the boat involved in the deadly shootout with Cuban officials off the island’s northern coast is believed to have left from the Florida Keys.
“I want access to the six remaining Americans that are in Cuban hands right now,” Gimenez told the TV news station. He also expressed doubts over the Cuban government’s account of the incident, stating that he doesn’t “trust the Cuban government in anything,” including its account of the shooting.
Cuban government officials said an exchange of gunfire between the group and the Cuban Coast Guard left four people on board the boat dead, with several others injured.
U.S. Secretary of State Marcio Rubio said the U.S. is conducting its own investigation to find out what happened. Gimenez said he’s waiting for the U.S. account, noting that the Cuban government even got the type of boat wrong.
“It is not a speedboat” but a “24-foot open fishermen with one 300 horsepower engine,” Gimenez said. “And you got 10 people on it, it’s not gonna go very fast.”
— Michelle Marchante
What we know so far
- Four men were killed and several others injured in the exchange of gunfire, according to Cuba’s interior ministry. One of the dead men were identified by Cuba as Michel Ortega Casanova.
- Cuba says 10 armed people, Cubans living in the United States, were aboard the boat, and they were planning a “terrorist infiltration.”
- Cuban authorities say they seized assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms from the vessel.
- Five officers aboard a Cuban coast guard vessel approached the Florida-registered speedboat to ask for ID when men on the speedboat opened fire and wounded the Cuban vessel’s commander, according to Cuba.
Rubio team meets Castro grandson during Caribbean conference
U.S. officials close to Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Raul Castro’s grandson on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Caribbean leaders on Wednesday in Saint Kitts’s capital as efforts to negotiate economic and political changes in Cuba continue.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting, who asked for anonymity to speak about the delicate negotiations, said Raúl Guillermo Rodriguez Castro met with one of Rubio’s advisers in a hotel near where the 50th regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM, has been taking place.
The meeting happened on the same day Cuban authorities reported a deadly shootout involving Cuba’s coast guard and a group of men on a Florida boat.
— Jacqueline Charles and Nora Gamez Torres
Some on boat were on Cuba’s “terrorism” list
Amijail Sánchez González, 47, and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, 47, were two of the people on board a Florida-registered speedboat involved in a deadly clash with Cuba’s coast guard off the northern coast of Villa Clara. Cuban authorities have described the situation as a “terrorist infiltration” and said that four people were killed during an exchange of gunfire. Six others, including González and Gómez, were detained.
Both Sánchez and Cruz, who were born in Cuba and live in the U.S., were already known to the Cuban government. Their names appear on the regime’s most recent national terrorism list, which was updated last year and published in the country’s official state-sponsored newspaper. The list, according to the Cuban regime, includes individuals and organizations that “have been subject to criminal investigations and are wanted by Cuban authorities for their involvement in acts of terrorism.”
— Michelle Marchante
Who was on the boat?
Cuban authorities have identified those detained as Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.
The Cuban government said Michel Ortega Casanova was one of the people killed. The other three have not been identified. Cuban authorities say all the men were Cubans residing in the United States.
— Nora Gamez Torres
Immediate reactions from U.S.
“We don’t know a whole lot of details and so I’ll defer to the White House to provide more updates as we get them,” said Vice President JD Vance. “Certainly a situation that we’re monitoring, hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be, but can’t say more because I just don’t know more.”
VIDEO: See reaction of Secretary of State Marco Rubio
MORE: Cuban coast guard says it killed four people in shootout with a Florida speedboat
Site of the confrontation
One nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones, off the northern coast of Villa Clara province in central Cuba.
Statement from the Cuban Interior Ministry
“As a result of the confrontation, at the time of this report, four of the foreign attackers were killed, and six were wounded. ... Faced with the current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar for the Cuban state in safeguarding its sovereignty and stability in the region.”
Recent confrontations involving Cuba
2002: The Cuban coast guard killed one aboard a speedboat with a Florida registration three nautical miles north of Bahia Honda. Cuban authorities said they found drugs and evidence of firearms
2002: Five people died when a speedboat collided with a Cuban coast guard vessel. Survivors later said the coast guard vessel rammed their boat.
1996: Shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban MiGs in 1996 — an incident that triggered the codification of the U.S. embargo into law.
EDITORIAL: Cuba boat shooting has echoes of a shocking earlier tragedy | Opinion
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 6:03 AM.
