Cuba Vows to Fight ‘Terrorist Aggression’ after Attack from US-registered Boat

THE GUARDIAN: Cuban president says country will ‘defend itself with determination’ after deadly coastal assault from exiles

Screenshot from this Guardian article. | Cuba's president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, arrives for a meeting with the UN secretary-general, on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN general assembly, at the UN headquarters in November 2019. | Photograph: Jason DeCrow/AP
Cuba has vowed to defend itself against any “terrorist and mercenary aggression”, a day after border guards said they had killed four exiles on a Florida-registered speedboat that opened fire on a patrol.

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, wrote on X that the Caribbean country will “defend itself with determination and firmness” after the incident in which six other people on the boat were injured.

The incident has the potential to crank up tensions between Washington and Havana, which have been at at odds since US forces seized Cuba’s key ally, the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration imposed an oil blockade on the island in January. » | Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana | Thursday, February 26, 2026