Havana, Cuba —
An FBI technical team is in Cuba to investigate a February shootout between Cuban soldiers and a boat crew from Florida, CNN has confirmed, citing two sources familiar with the trip.
The unusual visit by U.S. law enforcement to the communist-ruled island comes amid some of the highest tensions between the U.S. and Cuba in years, with the Trump administration saying Cuban officials need to make fundamental changes to their governing system.
Cuban officials say a boat carrying 10 people headed to the island from Florida in late February to carry out an “attempt to overthrow the government.”
Upon arrival, the boaters engaged in a gunfight with Cuban border guards, killing four boaters and wounding a Cuban soldier. A fifth boater later died from his injuries, Cuban officials said.
Cuban officials said they found a cache of assault rifles, ammunition, bulletproof vests and Molotov cocktails on the boat.
U.S. officials announced in February that at least one of the dead and one survivor was a U.S. citizen. The five survivors are charged with terrorism on the island. Cuban authorities initially recognized all the men as Cuban citizens, but the island’s government generally does not recognize dual citizenship and treats anyone born in Cuba as a citizen.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in March that FBI agents would be allowed to work with Cuban authorities to conduct investigations on the island.
A U.S. official told CNN that U.S. investigators are not basing their decisions on information provided by Cuba and will conduct their own review of what happened during the incident.
The official said the United States will seek to protect U.S. interests and the American people involved in the incident when making decisions regarding the incident.
CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.
