Shootout between Cuban forces and U.S. boat comes amid rising tensions

10 Cuban residents of the U.S. were aboard a speedboat registered in Florida that initiated a firefight with Cuban border patrol agents.

U.S. officials pledged Wednesday to fully investigate a shootout at sea, which Cuba is now calling a “foiled armed infiltration.”

“We’re going to find out. We’re not going to base our conclusions on what they’ve told us,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior said 10 Cuban residents of the U.S. were aboard a speedboat registered in Florida that initiated a firefight with Cuban border patrol agents.

Four were killed and six were injured.

Cuba said most “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”

It claims the men had assault rifles, handguns and Molotov cocktails on board.

“First of all, this occurs in a context of increasing hostilities between the United States and Cuba. The United States has really tightened the screws on the Cuban regime with the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. The United States has essentially pressured external parties, including Venezuela, to stop supplying Cuba with energy, and that has created near-crisis economic conditions in Cuba,” said SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson.

Wilson also pointed to the Trump administration’s recent calls for regime change in Cuba.

He said it’s too soon to know whether the deaths could serve as a tipping point, adding that U.S. military response would be based on the Cuban government taking an unjust or illegal action, which has yet to be proven.

“Also, we know that the US has concentrated considerable military force in the area of Iran. And so the US government probably does not welcome right now any sort of military confrontation with Cuba. So that's an important contextual thing to keep in mind, too,” said Wilson. “That said, I think the Cuban government wants to be very careful about this because they are stretched right now almost to the breaking point domestically. They certainly do not need to invite hostilities from the United States.”