A rare and deadly clash in the Florida Straits is stoking fresh tension between Washington and Havana. Cuba’s coast guard says it shot dead four people and wounded six others on a Florida‑registered speedboat after an exchange of gunfire off the island’s northern coast on February 25, 2026.

According to Cuba’s Interior Ministry, the vessel — registration FL7726SH — was detected roughly one nautical mile from Cayo Falcones in Villa Clara province and labeled an “illegal” incursion into Cuban territorial waters. When a Cuban patrol boat moved in to identify those on board, officials claim the speedboat opened fire, injuring the patrol’s commander, and Cuban forces responded with live fire of their own.

Cuban authorities say all 10 people on the boat were Cuban‑born residents of the United States. After the firefight, they reported seizing assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails and other military‑style gear, and described the group as “aggressors” with criminal or violent records who were attempting an armed infiltration.

In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that the operation was not conducted by the U.S. government and promised an independent investigation, saying the U.S. would not simply accept Havana’s version of events. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has ordered state prosecutors to work with federal agencies to probe the killings and determine who was on board, and whether any of the dead or wounded are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

The shootout comes amid a broader Cuba–U.S. crisis marked by sanctions, fuel shortages on the island and rising attempts at risky sea crossings. Whether this was, as Cuba claims, a foiled terrorist incursion — or a clandestine mission gone tragically wrong — is now at the center of an intensifying political storm on both sides of the Straits.