The Cuban communist regime on Tuesday announced that its Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the six individuals arrested aboard a speedboat that allegedly sought to plot against the regime.
Cuban authorities informed last week that they had allegedly intercepted a Florida-registered speedboat with ten armed men on board near its coasts, who allegedly opened fire at Cuban officials, leading to a shootout that resulted in the deaths of four of the men and the arrest of six others. At press time, the Cuban regime has not disclosed further details of the alleged shootout but branded the men as “terrorists” who allegedly sought to attack the rogue communist regime.
Hours after the initial announcement, the Cuban regime claimed that it had allegedly “identified” the men, listing Cuban anti-communist activist Roberto Azcorra Consuegra as one of those aboard the intercepted vessel. Azcorra Consuegra refuted the Castro regime’s claims and confirmed to Martí Noticias that he could have not been arrested by Cuba as he was at his home in Florida by the time the news broke out and spent that day carrying out his regular activities around Miami. He nevertheless expressed concerns over his personal safety and asserted to Martí Noticias that he suspects that the men onboard the ship were “infiltrated” by a Cuban spy operation. He spent much of the past week in Miami speaking to reporters, verifying his location.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in St. Kitts and Nevis, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed last week that the event did not involve any American government employee or asset. Rubio expressed doubt at the veracity of the Cuban regime’s accusations, who claimed that the incident was a “terrorist” operation successfully thwarted by Cuban forces.
“We will know quickly many more facts about this incident than we know right now. The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans,” Rubio told reporters at the time. “We will verify that independently.”
On Tuesday, Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, published a note from the Cuban Attorney General’s office announcing the start of criminal proceedings against six individuals charged with “terrorism” and accused of attempting to infiltrate the island-nation on February 25 with the aim of “carrying out terrorist acts.”
“Six defendants have been charged with crimes of terrorism under the Criminal Code. The Attorney General’s Office ordered their detention with the precautionary measure of provisional imprisonment,” the statement read in part.
“With respect for the rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and the laws, the Attorney General’s Office will ensure due process is followed, and once the investigations are completed, it will take the appropriate procedural decisions,” the statement continued.
The Cuban Interior Ministry disclosed details of its version of the alleged events to regime affiliated outlets, including Telesur, a Latin America left-wing propaganda network majorly funded by the Venezuelan and Cuban regimes.
According to the Cuban Ministry, it was not one speedboat, but rather, “two,” that left from Florida — but the second one “experienced technical difficulties during the journey and the occupants transferred to the other, which is why they finally arrived in a single boat.”
The one that allegedly succeeded in leaving Florida, Cuban officials claimed, was found in violation of Cuban waters on the morning hours of February 25 and “opened fire” at a group of five Cuban officials, who returned fire. Officials allegedly seized 134 magazines and 12,846 rounds of ammunition of various calibers from the speedboat in addition to a pistol “capable of piercing bulletproof vests, a drone with two cameras, ten communication devices, combat knives, a portable power generator,” and bolt cutters.
“We only respond with firearms when we are attacked. It is a rational and defensive model of action, which prioritizes avoiding the use of weapons except in situations of direct aggression,” Ybey Carballo Pérez, Chief of Staff of the Cuban Border Guard Troops Directorate, claimed.
According to regime-affiliated outlets, Carballo Pérez asserted that Cuba maintains “operational cooperation” with the U.S. Coast Guard on “immigration matters, combating drug trafficking, and search and rescue.” He assured that it was an almost “real-time exchange of information” with the U.S. embassy in Havana and within Miami, who were allegedly provided with details of the incident.
Additionally, the officials claimed that emblems of the “counterrevolutionary November 30 Movement and ‘people’s self-defense’ insignia” were allegedly found on the vessel. The officials accused Cuban dissident Maritza Lugo Fernández, who leads the anti-communist November 30 group, of being the “intellectual author” of the “terrorist” plot.
Lugo Fernández, a former political prisoner of the Cuban regime who now resides in Miami, spoke to Univision on Tuesday and dismissed the accusations espoused by the communist regime against her. She stated that although she knew some of the men aboard the boat “that was stolen in the Florida Keys,” there was no training on her property for any alleged plot, as claimed by regime authorities.
“I am the one who accuses them. I accuse them for so many murders, for so many deaths that have occurred within our people,” Lugo Fernández told Univision.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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