Trump team responds after US flagged boat enters Cuban waters and opens fire
JD Vance (Photo: Getty Images)
The US has commented for the first time on an incident involving a speedboat that entered Cuban waters under the US flag and opened fire on border guards. The guards also returned fire. The incident was commented on by US Vice President JD Vance, according to Deutsche Welle.
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“Certainly, you know, a situation that we're monitoring, 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 said.
At the same time, the American newspaper The New York Times reported that initial US media reports indicated that the speedboat was part of a flotilla of an unspecified number of vessels.
However, according to updated intelligence data, only one vessel was attacked. The shelled vessel did not belong to the US Coast Guard or the US Navy, which, according to an American official, had no vessels in the shooting area.
The Embassy of Cuba in Washington said it has no further details beyond the Ministry of Interior's statement, which described the situation from the Cuban government’s perspective.
Vessel under the US flag entered Cuban waters
Earlier, Cuba’s Ministry of Interior stated that four people on a US-flagged speedboat were shot after being intercepted in Cuban waters.
So far, neither the White House nor the US Department of State has given direct comments.
The incident occurred amid rising tensions between the US and Cuba, which has faced a fuel crisis after Washington blocked oil supplies from Venezuela.
