Cuba says it will defend itself against any ‘aggression’ after deadly U.S. boat clash

Cuba vowed to defend itself against “terrorist and mercenary aggression” as more information emerged about the U.S.-based Cuban men accused by the government of “foiled armed infiltration.”

Cuba said its military killed four men and captured six others who were injured after they entered Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered boat near the island nation’s northeastern coast. The Cuban government said they were armed and initiated the firefight.

The country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said Thursday that “Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression that seeks to affect its sovereignty and national stability.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the U.S. will carry out an independent investigation before it responds, adding they are going to independently verify the information shared by the Cuban government “and reach our own conclusions.”

Family, friends and associates who spoke with NBC and Telemundo about the U.S.-based Cubans involved in the incident said the men were known to be opposed to the Cuban government.

A congressional aide told NBC News that there is no indication of any U.S. government link to any of the people on board. Two sources close to one of the detained men said that at least some of the men aboard the boat were affiliated with a paramilitary group that is opposed to Cuba’s government.

Among the four people killed, the Cuban government has only identified Michel Ortega Casanova as one of the fatal victims as of Thursday afternoon.

In an interview with Telemundo’s Tampa station, Ortega Casanova’s brother spoke about his sibling’s actions in the context of their opposition to the Cuban government.

“One way or another this battle has to end,” Misael Ortega Casanova, Michel’s brother, told Telemundo 49.

“Today it was my brother’s turn, and those who fell alongside him. I don’t justify the method or the action,” he said in Spanish during an interview in Casa Cuba de Tampa, an organization for Cuban exiles. “For those who, in one way or another, have had to give their lives, both at home and abroad, for this freedom that we all long for and that has cost us the loss of family and the suffering of separation.”

Ibrahim Bosch, president of the Partido Republicano de Cuba, an organization that opposes the Cuban regime, said Michel was a member of their group. But in a statement shared on social media Thursday morning, he said “the organization’s leadership was completely unaware of his intentions, plans, or participation in said event.”

The Cuban government also identified six of the men they say were in the boat and are now detained in Cuba.

Two of them, Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Cruz Gómez, were previously designated by the Cuban government as individuals wanted for “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,” according to a Cuban state media report, citing a statement from the Interior Ministry.

NBC News was not immediately able to independently verify that information.

A Cuban man in Miami said his name also appears on the list from the Cuban government as one of the men who was captured.

“They say they have me detained, and I’m here in the United States,” Roberto Azcorra Consuegra told Telemundo’s Miami station.

Azcorra Consuegra said in Spanish he knows those who were involved in the incident because they all belong to different organizations opposed to the Cuban government.

“We are all young people who want freedom for our country,” Azcorra Consuegra said, adding that he did not have any plans to go to Cuba.

Asked why Cuba’s government would include his name on the list, Azcorra Consuegra said, “they know me. They know me well, they know everything.”

Conrado Galindo Sariol, one of the six men who were captured, was interviewed in June 2025 on a show that aired on the U.S. funded news-site Martí Noticias.

The host, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, a political prisoner from Cuba known as Antunez, introduced Sariol as a former political prisoner and “legend” and mentioned their hunger strikes while in prison.

Sariol talked about the worsening situation in the eastern part of Cuba, an area which has been more impacted by power outages and food shortages. Sariol talked about prisoners in the province of Camaguey who he said were being harassed and how relatives can support them.

Sariol said the scattered protests that were happening at the time were “not a spark that would be extinguished.”

The Florida-registered boat believed to have been used by the men was reported stolen on Wednesday, according to an incident report from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Florida obtained by NBC News. According to the police report, the boat’s owner said an employee had stolen the vessel.

FBI agents were later seen knocking at the door of the South Florida home listed on the boat’s registration. People inside the home declined to comment when approached by a reporter from Telemundo Miami. The owner of the boat does not appear on the list of names released by the Cuban government.

The incident comes as tensions have risen between the U.S. and Cuba. Many Cuban Americans in Miami have been hopeful that the 67-year-old dictatorship will soon come to an end.

Since the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has turned its focus on Cuba. Trump has said “Cuba will be failing pretty soon” and has also stated the U.S. is holding talks with Cuban leaders. At the same time, the administration has turned up the pressure by blocking oil shipments to the island.

The decrease in fuel, which was already scarce, has worsened a humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding for the past few years, with shortages of basic necessities and fewer essential services like regular trash collection.

South Florida’s Cuban American members of Congress called for an investigation but also accused Cuba’s government of lying. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-FL, said Cuba’s government spreads “misinformation and lies to perpetuate its control.” And Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla said “if there’s one thing we’ve learned after decades of confronting the Cuban dictatorship, it’s this: the regime lies, manipulates, and rewrites reality to protect itself.”