Cuba says 4 killed in speedboat shooting were attempting to infiltrate the country

HAVANA (TIP): Cuba’s government said late Wednesday that the 10 passengers on a boat that opened fire on its soldiers were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who were trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism.
The announcement came hours after Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speed boat that had entered Cuban waters and opened fire on the soldiers first, injuring one Cuban officer.
Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told reporters earlier that he was made aware of the incident and that the U.S. is now gathering its own information to determine if the victims were American citizens or permanent residents.
“We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to identify elements of the story that may not be provided to us now,” Rubio said while at the airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts, where he was attending a regional summit with Caribbean leaders.
The Cuban government identified two of the boat passengers as Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, who are wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism.”
The government said it also had arrested Duniel Hernández Santos, adding that he was “sent from the United States to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration, who at this time has confessed to his actions.”
The Associated Press was not immediately able to independently verify that information.
Cuba’s government said it obtained the details about the passengers aboard the boat from the suspects detained following the shootout.
It identified seven of the 10 passengers, including Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
On Thursday, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, said the Cuban government erroneously identified Roberto Azcorra Consuegra as one of the boat passengers late Wednesday. He said Azcorra was not aboard the boat.