Cuba Says It Is Communicating With US After Opening Fire on Speedboat, Killing 4

‘Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that,’ U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio in Havana, Cuba, on Feb. 26, 2026. Ramon Espinosa/AP

Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, said on Feb. 26 that Havana is in communication with officials in the United States following an incident in which a Florida-registered boat was fired on, killing four people.

Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior said that on Feb. 25, a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cuban exiles from the United States opened fire on soldiers off the island’s north coast, and that troops responded, killing four suspects and injuring six others. One Cuban official was also injured, the ministry said.