Colleagues of one of the passengers killed in the attempted raid said he was trying to overthrow the Cuban government.
Cuban authorities have accused 10 men aboard a speedboat sailing from the United States of attempting to wage a campaign of violence to destabilize the Cuban government.
A shootout with Cuban border guards this week left four of the 10 people on the boat dead.
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Cuban authorities on Thursday confirmed the six remaining crew members were being treated for injuries. The shooting wounded at least one Cuban officer.
CBS News also reported, citing a White House official, that at least one American citizen was among the dead.
Nonetheless, Cuban officials defended their government’s response, claiming speedboat passengers were the first to open fire on border agents.
“Cuba will defend itself with determination and resoluteness against terrorist and mercenary attacks that seek to affect its sovereignty and national stability,” Cuban President Manuel Diaz-Canel said on social media.
The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Cuba and the United States, which has made repeated threats against Cuba’s communist government.
Donald Trump’s administration has further strengthened measures to worsen Cuba’s economic situation, including a fuel blockade on the island in late January.
The Cuban government has so far identified only one of the four dead, Michel Ortega Casanova.
One of Casanova’s associates told news service AFP that he had tried to overthrow the government in Havana.
“His goal is to fight against a criminal and murderous narco-dictator (government) and see if that can spark an uprising of the people,” said Wilfredo Beyra, head of the Cuban Republican Party in Tampa.
Casanova’s family said they were unaware of his plans but were motivated by the “great suffering” people suffered under the Cuban government.
“No one knew,” said his older brother, Misrael Ortega Casanova. “My mother was shocked.”
He revealed that his brother was part of a group concerned about rights violations on the island.
“They were so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences or their own lives,” Misrael added.
U.S. officials said they would investigate the incident and denied any government involvement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. Embassy in Havana was seeking more information, including whether any U.S. citizens were among those detained.
“We have various elements of the U.S. government trying to identify elements of the story that may not be available to us at this time,” he said.
The United States has previously worked with Cuban exiles to support campaigns of covert infiltration, violence, and sabotage against the Cuban government.
But activist groups in South Florida have also begun operations of their own, some of which operate small speedboats and planes to transport Cuban nationals.
Cuban authorities used the U.S. intervention as a pretext for the country’s strict restrictions on political dissent and a series of security measures that human rights groups have brandished against critics.
Cuban authorities this week identified some of the speedboat passengers as Conrado Galindo Sariol, Jose Manuel Rodriguez Castello and Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara. More is yet to be confirmed.
The Cuban government also said some of the passengers were wanted by law enforcement agencies “because of their participation in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commissioning of activities carried out on the territory or in other countries in connection with acts of terrorism.”
However, members of the Cuban American community have expressed skepticism about the Cuban government’s claims.
“Nobody with a 25-foot speedboat is trying to overthrow the government,” Cuban exile Emilio Izquierdo told The Associated Press.
