A shootout between the Cuban coastguard and ten heavily armed men on a stolen speedboat has left Miami's Cuban exile community puzzled. The incident occurred on Wednesday at Cayo Falcones, barely a mile off Cuba's north coast. Cuba's government reported that border agents returned fire when someone on the speedboat began shooting, killing four and wounding six. The men were dressed in camouflage and armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests, and telescopic sights. They also carried containers bearing the symbols of counter-revolutionary organisations.
In Miami's Little Havana neighbourhood, the Bay of Pigs Museum saw slow foot traffic as locals expressed bewilderment. Javi González, a second-generation Cuban-American, asked: “Didn’t we stop doing that years ago?” referring to the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. The mystery deepened as families confirmed names of those involved, and a vigil was held in Miami. Tributes praised “patriots committed to the cause of freedom,” but few details emerged about how the ten men came together from across Florida or what they hoped to achieve.
The US State Department confirmed at least two US citizens were among the group, one dead, as well as permanent residents and visa holders. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, insisted the US government was not involved and had no knowledge of the operation. He said the US would conduct its own inquiry rather than accept information from Cuba. The funding source remains unknown.
Guillermo Grenier, a sociology professor at Florida International University, drew parallels to post-revolution exile groups like Alpha 66, which conducted military training in the Florida Everglades. However, he noted that such “adventurism has had its day” and dismissed suggestions of CIA involvement. The incident echoes other unrealistic “made in Miami” coup plots, including a 2019 plan to abduct Venezuela's leader and a 2021 scheme to assassinate Haiti's leader using Colombian mercenaries.
