Cuban authorities say four people have been shot dead and six others wounded after a Florida‑registered speedboat was intercepted in Cuban territorial waters off the north‑central province of Villa Clara on Wednesday morning, February 25, 2026. The vessel was detected about one nautical mile from the coast near Cayo Falcones, according to a statement from Cuba’s Interior Ministry.

When a Cuban border‑guard patrol boat with five officers approached the speedboat for identification, officials claim the men on board opened fire first, injuring the Cuban commander and triggering a brief but deadly shootout at sea.2 The speedboat, registered in Florida and believed to have departed from the United States, was later towed to shore, and the injured were taken to hospital.

In a late‑night communiqué, Havana alleged that all 10 people on the boat were Cuban nationals living in the U.S., heavily armed with rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, body armor and camouflage gear, and that they were attempting to “carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes.” One of the dead has been identified as Michel Ortega Casanova, a Cuban exile with U.S. ties; six alleged accomplices are now in Cuban custody.

Washington has denied any role in the operation and has launched parallel federal and state investigations, as Florida politicians demand answers and families in Miami insist the men were patriots, not terrorists.6 The clash, echoing past deadly incidents in the Florida Straits, is already inflaming U.S.–Cuba tensions and raising a stark question on both shores: was this a foiled terrorist raid, or a lethal overreaction that turned a murky mission into a geopolitical flashpoint?