On February 25, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior published a report by the Cuban Border Guard about the interception of a Florida-based speedboat into Cuban territorial waters a mile off Cayo Falcones, in Villa Clara province, on the north coast of the island.

When approached by the Cuban border guard, the occupants of the speedboat opened fire, wounding the commander. The border guards returned fire, killing four of the assailants and wounding six, who were taken to shore to be given medical attention.

This is a very serious escalation in the US imperialist aggression against the Cuban revolution.

Later on, Cuban authorities identified the ten men on the speedboat as: Pavel Alling Peña (deceased), Michael Ortega Casanova (deceased), Ledián Padrón Guevara (deceased), Hector Duani Cruz Correa (deceased), Amijail Sánchez González (wounded/ detained), Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez (wounded/ detained), Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara (wounded/ detained), Conrado Galindo Sariol (wounded/ detained), José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló (wounded/ detained), Roberto Álvarez Ávila (wounded/ detained).

Counter-revolutionary terrorism

Initially, the US media concocted a story that the speedboat’s aim was “to rescue family members off Cuba”. That makes no sense, as the boat could only hold ten people and was therefore at full capacity. The obvious question, which neither the New York Times nor others bothered to ask, was where did they plan to put their family members?

Very soon, it became clear that those on the boat were part of a terrorist incursion against Cuba, carried out by reactionary Florida-based Cuban-Americans. Even before more details had been released by the Cuban authorities, a cursory search on social media would have revealed the real character of the incursion.

Several of the social media accounts of the counter-revolutionary Cuban-Americans were already describing the people on board the boat as ‘freedom fighters’. Univision journalist Javier Díaz said that these were “a group of men seeking to fight for Cuba”. He published video footage of two of the boat’s occupants showing off their weapons prior to the incursion.

Later on, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior reported seizing a significant cache of military-grade weapons and tactical equipment from the Florida-registered speedboat. This included 13 rifles (including AR-15s and AKMs), 11 handguns, nearly 13,000 rounds of various calibers, 134 magazines, surveillance drones, several Molotov cocktails and other improvised incendiary devices, telescopic sights, sniper scopes, and night-vision or thermal-vision goggles, as well as bulletproof vests, helmets (some with cameras), tactical knives, camouflage uniforms, and balaclavas.

In fact, a few days before the incursion, one of the main spokespeople for the reactionary Miami Cuban-Americans had warned that “if the flotilla goes to Cuba, we will also go”, in reference to the Cuban solidarity flotilla which is being organized to try and break the US oil blockade.

Over the following days, it became clear that the ten men were linked to a series of fringe terrorist organizations, including the so-called “Peoples’ Self-Defense,” a group which has attempted to carry out acts of sabotage inside Cuba (setting crops on fire, spraypainting). The amount of weaponry they were carrying represented a big leap in the character of their activities, from low-level sabotage to open terrorism.

US complicit

This attack—for this is what it was, an illegal incursion into Cuban territorial waters and an armed attack on Cuban border guards—takes place at a time when US imperialism has massively stepped up its pressure on the Cuban revolution with an oil blockade which threatens a humanitarian crisis.

It is also to be noted that the US has a very large number of military assets in the Caribbean and has been acting in an extremely provocative manner for weeks, with electronic warfare planes circling the north coast of Cuba, navy vessels probing the island’s territorial waters, etc.

For seven months, the US Navy has been striking speedboats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing over 100 people, as well as seizing oil tankers in the region and beyond. They are closely monitoring the movement of vessels, big and small, across the whole region.

Are we to believe that US intelligence was not aware of this speedboat and that none of their military means spotted the incursion of an armed, Florida-registered speedboat against Cuba?

Immediately, the Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier declared that he had opened “an investigation”. He stated that “the Cuban government cannot be trusted” and added that “we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable”. As we see, the “investigation” had not even started before the Florida Attorney had already decided that ‘the Commies’ were to blame.

Even from a basic investigative point of view, shouldn’t he be asking what a Floridian speedboat was doing a mile off the coast of Cuba?

Reactionary Cuban-American circles in Florida are heavily infiltrated by US intelligence agencies, and they play an outsized role in US politics. It may prove difficult to determine the degree to which US intelligence agencies were involved in this incursion, either by action or by omission. But it would be the height of stupidity to think that the US government was unaware, as these groups have always operated in broad daylight and made no secret of their plans.

U.S. and Gusanos seek to crush Cuban Revolution

In a video published on social media by Gilberto Dorrego, the anchor for Telemundo in Tampa, two friends of the attackers explained their motives and protested that they were “not terrorists” but rather that they wanted to “fight for Cuba’s freedom”. The video, however, reveals the real character of these reactionaries. While standing in front of pictures of Cuban independence hero Martí and name-dropping both Martí and Maceo, this “Cuban patriot” is wearing a t-shirt with the letters USA emblazoned on the front.

The point should be obvious to any observer. The crushing of the Cuban revolution, which is the shared aim of the Trump-Rubio administration and the Miami terrorist groups, would not lead to the freedom of Cuba in any way, shape or form. It would mean the complete loss of sovereignty for the island, which would become, as it was before 1959, a de facto colony of the United States.

In the same way that the Cuban Revolution, in order to achieve national sovereignty, was forced (for this was not its original plan) to expropriate the capitalists, landowners, bankers and US multinational corporations, the restoration of capitalism on the island would mean the end of its independence.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court’s decision declaring unlawful Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose tariffs on other countries has left his January 29 Executive Order threatening tariffs on any country selling oil to Cuba without a legal basis. This has increased pressure on Mexico—which had suspended the sale of oil to Cuba under US pressure—to resume oil shipments to the island. So far, Mexican President Sheinbaum has refused to do so.

In a further twist in the US-imposed oil blockade of the island, Washington now says it will allow the sale of Venezuelan oil (the flow of which it controls after the 3 January attack) to Cuba but only to private actors, not to the government.

This reveals, if there was any doubt, that one of the key aims of the US assault on Cuba is precisely to force wholesale privatization and destroy the planned economy (which, although much weakened by sanctions and pro-market policies, still remains).

Funneling fuel into the Cuban private sector, however, will not prevent a humanitarian crisis from developing, as it is the government that runs public transportation, generates electricity for households and public institutions, provides healthcare and education, etc.

What the US is saying with this measure is: those who have money can pay for fuel (and thus generate electricity), but those who don’t can remain in darkness. Private businesses can light their bars, hotels and restaurants, but hospitals and schools will not be able to.

Countries like Canada, Mexico, Spain and others are sending humanitarian aid to Cuba. But the crucial question remains: the US has imposed an oil blockade. Unless that is broken, Cuba has no ability to generate electricity for households, hospitals and other basic services. It cannot run public transportation, it cannot transport goods (including food and other life essentials), etc.

So far, the only country that announced it would supply oil to Cuba was Russia. The Sea Horse, a tanker filled with 200,000 barrels of Russian fuel, was traveling from Cyprus towards Cuba, but as of 27 February it seems to have stopped mid-way in the North Atlantic and is no longer moving towards Cuba. It remains to be seen if it will be seized by the US. We must redouble our efforts of solidarity with Cuba!

Down with the criminal US blockade!

Hands off Cuba! Defend the Cuban Revolution!