Maritime Incidents and Border Security

Cuba’s Interior Ministry says Cuban border troops intercepted a Florida‑registered speedboat about one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel off Cayo Falcones after it entered Cuban waters and, it alleges, opened fire; Cuban officials say the exchange wounded a patrol commander and left four people aboard the boat dead, six wounded and others detained. Cuban authorities displayed what they described as a large weapons cache — assault rifles (one with a scope), 11 pistols, helmets, camouflage gear, Molotov cocktails and more than 12,800 rounds of ammunition — called the operation an attempted infiltration, and U.S. officials (including DHS, the Coast Guard, State and Florida prosecutors) have opened independent investigations while the White House says Americans were aboard.