By Hedelberto López Blanch / Cartoon: Adán on February 27, 2026
“They were simply armed civilians.”
Once again, another terrorist act was launched against the Cuban nation from the United States. On this occasion, a speedboat with registration number FL7726SH, coming from Florida, United States, attempted to infiltrate 10 mercenaries armed with assault rifles, explosives, night vision equipment, ammunition of various calibers, and bulletproof vests.
The boat was detected in Cayo Falcones, municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara, where the terrorists, upon approaching a surface unit of Border Guard troops for identification, opened fire on the five combatants and wounded their commander.
As a result of the confrontation, four attackers were killed and the other six were wounded. They are Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Cruz Gómez (both wanted by the Cuban justice system for having previously committed acts of terrorism and who enjoy impunity within the United States), Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
Michael Ortega Casanova, Pavel Alín Peña, Ledián Padrón Guevara, and Héctor Cruz Correa were killed in the operation.
In addition, Duniel Hernández Santos, who had been sent from the United States with the mission of receiving and supporting the logistics of the infiltrated group, was arrested in Cuba. Hernández Santos has confessed, according to the MININT report.
What is now most symptomatic is the intention to disassociate itself from this aggressive action by the regime established in the United States by convicted President Donald Trump and promoted by his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
As is well known, since last September, Washington has had numerous warships guarding a large area, in which they have bombed and destroyed some 40 boats and killed nearly 120 people in the Caribbean and Pacific seas without showing any evidence that they were trafficking drugs. It believes it has the right to attack any vessel with impunity, above all to show its arrogance and instill fear throughout the region.
Who can believe that its abundant and sophisticated naval and air resources were unable to detect a boat loaded with an immense arsenal?
More than 3,400 Cubans have died as a result of terrorist acts since 1959; that is practically 67 years of constant attacks against the island in an attempt to overthrow its legitimate government.
Now they have come thinking that there is unrest in the country due to the enormous blockade measures imposed by Washington and the impossibility of receiving oil, but Cuba continues to defend its values together with all its people, as Martí, Maceo, Fidel, Raúl, and Díaz-Canel taught us.
Since the beginning of the Revolution, Cuba has suffered countless terrorist acts, including the explosion of the steamship La Coubre; Operation Mongoose, from 1961 to 1965, with acts of sabotage that included fires, explosions, and the use of biological weapons to damage crops and livestock; the invasion of Playa Girón in 1961, which caused the death of 176 Cubans and more than 300 wounded.
The attack on Cubana de Aviación in 1976, in which 73 people on board were killed; the more than 600 assassination attempts against Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz; the introduction of the hemorrhagic dengue epidemic in 1981, which caused the deaths of 158 people, including 101 children.
The sabotage of hotels in Havana, in one of which Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo was killed. The list is endless, and those who committed many of these terrorist acts were not and have not been convicted, such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, who died peacefully of natural causes in the United States.
The recent incursion by an armed boat carrying terrorists violated Articles 2, 17, 19, 25, and 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which establishes that the sovereignty of a State extends to its internal waters and territorial sea. It also determines that the affected state has the full right to take the necessary measures to prevent such passage, and therefore the Cuban forces acted with the utmost professionalism within the legal framework to protect their people.
Recently, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel-Bermúdez stated: Cuba does not attack any country, but it does defend its sovereignty and independence with all its might.
As an old adage reflects, these terrorists came for wool and ended up being sheared. Cuba must be respected.
Source: Cuba en Resumen