Cuba said it has filed terrorism charges against six suspects it says were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island's north coast.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 4, 2026 at 11:00 PM
If the idiots currently squatting in the Oval Office decide they need a ForPol distraction from their latest ForPol clusterf*ck, this might be the Jenkin’s Ear they’ve been scrabbling after:
Cuba said Wednesday it has filed terrorism charges against six suspects it claims were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that is alleged to have opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island’s north coast.
The Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the suspects of Cuban origin remain in pretrial detention, adding that it will ensure “due process” as it continues to act “in defense of our people and the country’s institutions.”
The government has said 10 heavily armed Cubans from the U.S. who were on board the boat opened fire as they tried to infiltrate the island to commit acts of terrorism. It said that Cuban soldiers returned fire, killing four suspects.
The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols…
Tragicomic backstory, from the Miami Herald — “What we know about the Florida men accused of trying to invade Cuba” (February 27th):
The Cuban government’s accusations that several Floridians attempted to invade the island Wednesday on a speedboat carrying Molotov cocktails and sniper rifles has set off shockwaves across the Sunshine State. For now, it’s unclear whether the men Havana identified were actually on the boat and what they were doing. The federal government hasn’t confirmed Cuba’s version of the event, with State Department Secretary Marco Rubio highlighting a need for a separate, U.S. investigation…
Havana said that four people had been killed when it intercepted the boat on Wednesday whose passengers had planned to carry out a “terroristic infiltration.”…
“This is not an isolated incident. Cuba has been the victim of attacks and countless terrorist acts for more than 60 years, most of which have been organized, financed, and carried out from the territory of the United States,” said Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, in a statement Thursday. He added that aboard the boat had been insignia from “counterrevolutionary terrorist organizations.”
The incident has captured international attention, with questions about the men and their motivations, but details are still emerging. The situation has hit especially close to home for members of Florida’s Cuban exile community, some of whom which knew the men who the Cuban authorities identified…
Rene Montes de Oca, vice president of anti-communist group Casa Cuba de Tampa, in an interview on Thursday told the Tampa Bay Times that he personally knew Ortega and Cruz Gomez through the organization.
Ortega Casanova was a leader of the Republican Party’s Tampa chapter and participated in meetings at Casa Cuba de Tampa, said Montes de Oca. Casa Cuba has declared a period of mourning and lowered its flags to half-mast…
“Both (Ortega Casanova and Cruz Gómez) were always very firm in their convictions and believed that to bring down the Cuban government you had to fight with weapons,” he said. “Personally, I was one of those who warned them many times that it was dangerous and could be a suicide mission.”…
A police report from the Monroe County Sheriff’s office obtained by the Herald showed that the boat had been reported stolen by its owner from the Florida Keys. Angel Montera, 65, told deputies that the boat is usually docked behind a home in Big Pine Key, whose owner lets him keep it there in exchange for construction work. When he saw the boat’s registration floating around on the media, he realized it matched his own vessel…
The incident on waters near the Cuban province of what comes as diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States are at a sensitive point. The Trump administration has choked Cuba’s oil supply through tariff threats and maritime blockades, worsening a dire situation on the ground. Cuban authorities have stopped supplying jet fuel to international airlines and cancelled all scheduled surgeries…
Suzanne
This took me a minute. Of course, musing on Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.
hueyplong
Trump campaigned against Forever Wars while concealing his “plan” for Everywhere Wars.
A Ghost to Most
Bay of Pigs 2: Now with more Piggy.
Gin & Tonic
@hueyplong: I feel his chances for a Nobel Peace Prize may be slipping away.
Van Buren
The USA has been an imminent threat to Cuba for 64 years, according to Tom Cotton logic.
Shalimar
@Gin & Tonic: I sometimes wonder if Trump only wants the Nobel Peace Prize because Eric told him it comes with 10 free Happy Meals.
mrmoshpotato
@A Ghost to Most: Nice.
Interesting Name Goes Here
That Miami Herald article used a whole lot of words just to say that they were Florida men.
mrmoshpotato
@Shalimar: LOL!
hueyplong
@Suzanne:
Samuel L: Does Trump look like a bitch?
Brad: Well…
Suzanne
@A Ghost to Most: Bay of Pigs II: Porcine Boogaloo
Scout211
This story just confuses me. Did these 10 men think that they could start a revolution and free the people of Cuba with a few guns and a bunch of ammo?
And what’s going on with the Ex-Pat crowd in Florida? Head of the local Republican Party?
Too many questions, or maybe just absurdities. But I don’t have a lot of confidence that “Dead Eyes” Rubio will find any answers.
hueyplong
@Scout211: I’m pretty sure we all had Shenanigans in Cuba While Rubio is Secretary of State on our bingo cards.
JetsamPool
I’m guessing there were drugs or alcohol involved.
Miss Bianca
@Scout211:
Sure they did. After all, they’re Republicans. I mean, isn’t that the essential plan that Trump and Co have for “freeing” Iran?
Josie
They were probably planning to sneak onto the island and started shooting when their clever plan was foiled. And, yes, there were probably drugs and/or alcohol.
Snarki, child of Loki
How many of those terrists were nude, carrying a pet alligator?
FLORIDUH MAN, amirite?
Martin
This has all the energy of a Rubio operation.
Chetan Murthy
@JetsamPool: @Snarki, child of Loki: Bath salts. Bath salts.
mrmoshpotato
@hueyplong:
WTFGhost
@Scout211:
I assumed, from the details so far, that they hoped to make it to Cuba, and meet with other revolutionaries, with a supply of weapons and ammo. Someone panicked when the Cuba coast guard caught them, and that’s pretty much the end of the story.
@Martin: Yeah, and as soon as he picks up the tweezers, he instantly hits the side, even on “broken heart” which you can *spear* with the tweezers! Thank god it’s just a child’s game. Anyone who trusted Rubio with an operation, instead of an Operation(tm) is a dadblasted fool.
anotherlurker
Florida Cubans are god’s chosen, don’t ya know?
They are Uncle Sam’s special flowers.
YY_Sima Qian
This is the result of Modi’s alignment w/ Bibi post-10/7/23, which has continued through the 2 wars against Iran over the past year. Modi was just in Jerusalem a couple of days before the current conflagration.
It’s more than just FP posture, though. While the PRC has harshly condemned Israel for its wars against Gaza, the Hezbollah & Iran, leading to a significant degradation in the previously highly productive relations, the PRC has in fact done little. PRC companies continue to execute infrastructure construction contracts, Chinese laborers continue to toil in Israeli construction sites, Chinese exporters continued to sell drones, electronic components & body armor. Global South countries can choose to overlook these actions because the PRC still offers diplomatic cover, trade, economic investment, infrastructure, financing, tech. transfer, etc., much more than India.
scav
@Scout211: Aggressive Self-Deportation of non-Anglo “Americans”, sooooo, um, are these good guys or bad guys to the ICEy crowd?
Scout211
Yes, good question. But the worst of the worst are in Minnesota, doncha know.
We’ll have to ask Rubio why Cuban exiles who have criminal records and are suspected of terrorism aren’t being removed to detention centers.
I’m sure old Dead Eyes will get right on it.
cain
@YY_Sima Qian: It’s ok, the bhakts will provide plenty of concern trolling.
Modi leaving Israel after that attack doesn’t look good for relations with Iran that’s for sure. India has a decent shia population too.
Chetan R Murthy
@Scout211: I’d guess because they’re naturalized. From what I’ve read, ICE/CBP have been very active in FL, picking up Cubans [who aren’t US citizens] and deporting them. It’s gotten a lot of press. Not that I care much, since both Cubans and Venezuelans voted for the Face-Eating Leopard Party in large numbers.
Chetan R Murthy
@cain: One would imagine that Modi and Iran don’t get along period, given his …. raging Islamophobia. But I don’t actually know: maybe somehow he can thread that needle.
cain
@Chetan R Murthy: Of the latin demographic, those two especially seem to fall into the trap of thinking they are immune.
cain
@Chetan R Murthy: As far as I’m aware, they have cordial relations with Iran and Afghanistan.
Chetan R Murthy
@cain: Well, there’s also Latinos in Texass, who are all “we’re Spanish, not Mexican”.
Chetan R Murthy
@cain: I get why India would have good relations with AFG: PK is right between. But a little surprised they get along well with Iran. Only a little.
Craig
The supplying jet fuel strikes me as odd. Do they refine jet fuel there?
Chetan R Murthy
@Craig: One presumes it’s a general shortage of oil and hence of all oil-based products. Cuba -does- have oil refineries, from what I read.
m.j.
It appears as if it’s another plan where someone does something without thinking and hopes for magic.
It’s just a matter of scale.
mrmoshpotato
@Chetan R Murthy:
Oh?
Chetan R Murthy
@mrmoshpotato: It’s a depressing thing. Texass has been majority-minority like CA for a long time, but unlike in CA, Texass Latinos still vote G(r)OPer. That’s a big part of why Texass stays so deep red.
Eyeroller
@mrmoshpotato: Those are called Tejanos. Some really do have deep historical roots in Texas from before the whites started moving in. Those people often have a lot of indigenous ancestry. Others who are more recent migrants into Texas co-opt that.
Edit: this is getting into ethnic politics of Latinos, which I only observed during my years in Texas since I’m not of that group, but they definitely have a skin-tone stratification. But a lot of the “Spanish” are only part Spanish.
There are people in New Mexico and California who descend from Spanish colonists and have been there for centuries, but seem to be fewer of those in Texas.
cain
@Chetan R Murthy: and also don’t vote. ICE coming in and running rampant and seeing the R party doing nothing will quickly disabuse their notions of their identity in this country.
Just look at that parking lot
A new episode came out today for NPR’s Throughline podcast titled,Iran & the Jewish people: An alliance before war. It’s about the history of Jews in Iran. Also goes into how Iran & Israel cooperated with each other from Israel’s creation in ‘48 until the Iranian revolution in ‘79. Learned a lot in the hour I listened. If you’ve never heard the Throughline podcast, give it a whirl. It’s well worth it.
Parfigliano
So can Cuba target a certain shitty little supper club in retaliation
Raoul Paste
@Scout211: “ Did these 10 men think they could start a revolution?….”
They thought their attack would cause the Cuban people to rise up and overthrow their government. It sounds familiar….
Chetan R Murthy
@Parfigliano: It’s only an act of terrorism when some little country does it; when we do it, it’s a
special military operationthree-hour tour.lowtechcyclist
@Craig:
AIUI, jet fuel is kerosene, which of course can be put to many more basic uses. I suspect that the Cuban government is just saying that right now they’re not providing any of their supplies on hand to international airlines, because they may need to conserve those supplies for domestic use.
bbleh
Well, on balance I am in favor of small groups of heavily armed but less than clear-thinking MAGA-aligned men running off to attack in absurdly hopeless ways other countries defended by professional militaries. Kinda win-win, doncha know.
Opiejeanne
@Craig: canceling all scheduled surgeries is a really bad sign.
Geminid
@Eyeroller: The family of Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Secretary of State, settled in what is now southern Arizona in the 1740s.
Deputinize America
@mrmoshpotato:
“What? What?”
Pauline
@Geminid: Yes, he’s from Nogales where I’m also from. The entire area has a rich history of Spanish settlers.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: I think part of Modi’s and Netanyahu’s alignment is based on Pakistan’s and Turkiye’s alignment. Pakistan is India’s regional adversary while Turkiye is Israel’s regional rival. And Pakistan and Turkiye have partnered on defense projects. So Modi and Netanyahu feel they have a common cause.
I noticed some national differences regarding the war in Gaza, on social media. There seemed to a lot of Indian accounts taking Israel’s side in a war against the Palestinians, who are Muslim for the most part. Israel was the enemy of their enemy
On the other hand, Armenian accounts tended to be very critical of Israel. I think that was because Israel and Azerbaijan are defense partners. Azerbaijan had just taken control of the Armenian enclave of Artsakh with the help of drones provided by Israel. Armenians stay mad about such things.
Glory b
@Just look at that parking lot: My husband refers to Throughline as “Stuff your parents and grandparents lived through and could have told you about if you realized they actually know things and bothered to ask.”
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: There is some of that. There is also the natural sympathy among reactionary ethno-/religio-nationalists.
ExPatExDem
Let’s say it plain. 2026 USA = 1937 Germany.
We’re a rogue nation, led by a fascist government, now violating the sovereignty of other nations around the world via military aggression, while everyone watches from the sideline in horror.
And at home, we have concentration camps for undesirables, and masked secret police terrorizing the civilian population.
Our system of checks and balances hasn’t failed completely, but I expect Trump will try and go full dictator if he thinks the Rs will lose the next election. Be ready for a false flag or Reichstag fire type event on U.S. soil in the coming months.
toine
Ya man, the boat was stolen… You know, I park it behind this dude’s house who lets me because ummm… I do construction work for him… you know, with totally documented and legit ummm construction workers. Then I saw it on the news and said “darn that is my boat! What on earth is going on? It must have been stolen from behind this dude’s house! I should report this! I mean I don’t know the guy’s name or anything, but he is pretty cool. And the boat had a padlock on it and everything ummmm and I’ve done some really great ummmmm… construction work for him…. so I ummmmm was really surprised!”
bjacques
@ExPatExDem: and when I’m stood up against that wall, I’ll be sure to blame centrist Democrats with my last breath.
America 2026 isn’t Germany 1937. It’s not even Germany 1927, with the Nazis owning Thuringia under the wobbly Weimar federal government.
The Nazis were at least professionals and hardened war veterans. Trump’s people are neither. Vought and his Federalist Society lawyers beavering away at Project 2025 are still hobbled by Trump’s short attention span and his own grievances.
Trump’s already acting like a dictator, and Stephen Miller and other minions would like you to believe he has the apparatus in place to be one, but he hasn’t. And between Epstein and Iran, I expect him to have even less control by the midterms.
And Charlie Kirk, who was to be the Right’s Horst Wessel, is still a cheap joke whose merry widow is just trying to keep the grift going while his movement dissipates from lack of interest.
Worry and act, but don’t panic.
Paul in KY
@Snarki, child of Loki: All of them were wearing 2 wetsuits. Do not know of any dildo usage, at present time.