Havana claims 4 US residents killed, 6 injured in firefight off Cuban coast
發佈日期: 2026-02-26 21:55
TVB News
Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered speedboat on Wednesday and opened fire on a Cuban patrol boat, Havana said at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.
Meanwhile, the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Department of the Treasury will allow the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba's non-governmental sectors.
Cuban state television reported Cuba's Interior Ministry said the group that sailed into Cuban waters was comprised of anti-government individuals from the Caribbean island nation, some of whom were previously wanted for plotting attacks.
The ministry said they came from the United States dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights.
The ministry added an additional Cuban suspect was detained inside Cuban territory in connection with the plot.
The ministry said according to preliminary statements from the detainees, they intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes and the wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters it was not a US operation and that no US government personnel were involved.
Rubio said Cuban authorities made the US aware of the incident, but the US embassy in Havana would attempt to independently verify what happened.
He said: "There are a number of things that could have happened here, but I'm not even going to speculate as to what it could have been. It's a wide range of things. Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that, it's not something that happens every day."
Meanwhile, the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Department of the Treasury will allow the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba's non-governmental sectors.
The office said it will implement a "favourable licensing policy" towards specific license applications seeking authorisation for the resale of Venezuelan origin oil to Cuba.
This "favourable licensing policy" is directed toward transactions including exports for commercial and humanitarian use in Cuba and others in Cuba's private sector, but excluding the military and government institutions.
The United States has labeled Cuba "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to national security, saying it will stop Cuba from receiving Venezuelan oil after the January military operation that forcibly took Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
