Cuban prosecutors have formally charged six people with terrorism crimes after a U.S.-flagged speedboat was involved in a deadly shootout with Cuba’s coast guard last week.
The U.S.-based Cuban defendants are accused of loading a ship with weapons and heading toward Cuba in hopes of destabilizing the government in Havana.
Four other people aboard the ship, which came within a nautical mile of the Caribbean island’s shores, were shot dead by the coast guard in the Feb. 25 shooting.
At least two of those on the boat were American citizens, one of whom died.
The accused will remain “in provisional detention,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
There were no further updates on the condition of the injured detainees, nor their whereabouts at a time of intense tensions between the United States and Cuba. Washington has effectively stopped all oil shipments to the communist-ruled island while demanding political and economic changes. Donald Trump’s administration has made no secret of its desire for regime change in Cuba.
Cuban officials have alleged that the alleged infiltrators arrived armed with nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition, 13 rifles and 11 pistols, and displayed the captured weaponry at the studio in a special television program on Friday.
They also showed photographs of the boats, each dotted with bullet holes from the shooting that they said took place at a distance of 20 meters (66 feet).
Cuba has said that at least two of those detained had previously been included on a list of those accused of terrorism.
Cuba’s Interior Ministry alleged that the men came from the United States with the intention of wreaking havoc and attacking military units on the island.
Prosecutor Edward Robert Campbell told state television on Friday that the defendant faced a number of possible charges, including crimes associated with terrorist acts.
If convicted, they could face prison terms of up to 15 years for the lesser offenses and 20 to 30 years – or even the death penalty – for the most serious charges, Campbell said.
American politicians have expressed skepticism about the Cuban version of events and have called for independent investigations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this was not a US operation and no US government personnel were involved.
Last week, Havana said Washington was willing to cooperate in the investigation.
After the Cuban revolution of 1959, such infiltration attempts by armed commandos from South Florida were not uncommon.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
