Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed the United States would get answers about a Cuba shootout that killed four people and injured six others aboard a speedboat from Florida.
“We’re going to find out exactly what happened and then we will respond accordingly,” Rubio said Wednesday while traveling to Saint Kitts and Nevis.
He conceded that “it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that. That’s not something that happens every day.”
Cuban coast guard ships docked in Havana seen on Feb. 25, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior announced the deadly altercation in a post on social media, declaring it was protecting “its territorial waters” when its border troops killed at least four and wounded six who were aboard a Florida-registered boat that had entered Cuban waters.
But Rubio downplayed Cuba’s version of events, saying the U.S. would find its “own information on this.”
“We’re not gonna base our conclusions on what they told us,” he said, adding: “We’ll respond appropriately based on what our information tells us.”
Vice President JD Vance also said the Trump administration is working to learn more.
“Hopefully, it’s not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can’t say more because I just don’t know more,” Vance told reporters during an event at the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would get answers on the incident off the coast of Cuba and respond “appropriately” to it. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Cuba’s government said that, on Wednesday morning, the crew on the speedboat “opened fire on the Cuban personnel, resulting in the injury of the commander of the Cuban vessel.”
Cuban border guards returned fire.
“Four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six were injured. The injured individuals were evacuated and received medical assistance,” the Interior Ministry said.
Note from the Ministry of the Interior:
On the morning of February 25, 2026, a violating speedboat was detected within Cuban territorial waters. The vessel, registered in Florida, United States, with registration number FL7726SH, approached up to 1 nautical mile northeast of the… pic.twitter.com/AEmwtAZ4lO
— Cuban Embassy in US (@EmbaCubaUS) February 25, 2026
It’s unclear who owned the boat or if Americans were on board. An official told The New York Times the firefight involved a US civilian boat working to get relatives out of Cuba, adding that the vessel was not a US Naval or Coast Guard boat.
Rubio confirmed the boat was not part of a US government operation.
The boat, which has the registration number FL7726SH, is a 24-foot power boat that was manufactured in 1981, according to maritime database records.
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Cuba is investigating.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he would investigate.
“I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to work with our federal, state, and law enforcement partners to begin an investigation,” he said in a statement on X.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable.”
Florida Congressman Carlos Gimenez, who represents Miami-Dade, called the incident a “massacre” and demanded the abolishment of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s presidency.
“This regime must be relegated to the dust bin of history!,” he said in a statement.
The incident took place one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones, according to the Cuban government.
The El Pino channel sits directly south of Florida, off the north side of Cuba. It is frequently used for maritime traffic and is known to be patrolled by the Cuban government.
Cuba is undergoing an economic crisis with rising prices in food and gas, partially because President Trump’s administration has stopped oil shipments to the island, especially from Venezuela.
Rubio acknowledged the humanitarian crisis but blamed the island’s leadership.
“The people of Cuba are suffering today. They’ve been suffering for a long time,” he said, “and it is the authorities there and that government who are responsible for that. They’re the ones that have made decisions that have left Cuba vulnerable to the situation they’re now in.”
Tensions are also high between Havana and Washington after the administration’s aggressive policy of attacking vessels in the Caribbean it claims are trafficking drugs. The U.S. has carried out at least 44 strikes to date.