MIAMI.– Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier ordered the opening of a formal criminal investigation following the attack by the Cuban Border Guard against a speedboat with Florida registration in waters near the province of Villa Clara.
The incident, which left four people dead and six injured, occurred in the vicinity of Cayo Falcones and unleashed a diplomatic crisis due to contradictory versions about the origin of the attack.
The state official assured that he seeks to determine legal responsibilities for what he described as an act of violence by the island regime against a ship linked to its jurisdiction.
Mobilization and skepticism
Uthmeier said he has instructed the State Attorney’s Office to initiate appropriate proceedings in collaboration with federal law enforcement agencies.
The prosecutor expressed distrust of the official narrative of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), which maintains that its troops repelled a “terrorist infiltration.”
According to the Havana report, the crew of the boat FL7726SH were carrying assault weapons and explosives, a version that Uthmeier flatly rejected by promising that his office will use all the resources at its disposal to hold those responsible accountable to justice.
The attorney general’s order includes the identification of victims to confirm whether they have US citizenship or legal residence in the country.
The official stressed that the human rights record of the Cuban government reduces any credibility to its official statements.
Condemning reactions
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis supported Uthmeier’s initiative and condemned the use of deadly force against civilian vessels.
For his part, Congressman Carlos Giménez described the event as an unjustified massacre and demanded a forceful response from the federal administration.
Cuban exile organizations in Miami joined the protests and asked the State Department for independent verification of the facts to prevent the Cuban regime from manipulating evidence in the area of the incident.
The tension escalated after the statements of the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who confirmed that the government is collecting its own information about the attack.
Rubio clarified that the boat was not part of any official Washington operation, but warned that the use of weapons against a ship with US registration will have consequences once the intelligence assessment is concluded.
The event occurs in a delicate geopolitical framework, marked by the recent loss of Venezuelan energy support for the island, which aggravates instability in the region.
