Men work in a monument in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, May 25, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
HAVANA — Cuba said late on Saturday it had thwarted a terrorist plot hatched in neighboring south Florida, according to a report broadcast on state-run media, after a man allegedly arrived on the island by jetski to commit acts of violence.
The resulting investigation, which state-run media said was still underway, alleged the plot was tied to at least two groups, Nueva Nacion Cubana and La Nueva Nacion Cubana en Armas, which Cuba has labeled as terrorist entities.
Reuters was unable to contact either of the groups late on Saturday.
The report said one of the men it had arrested, who appeared on the program but whose identity was unclear, was armed with several handguns, ammunition clips and ammo.
The report alleged the man, a Cuban residing in Florida, had entered Cuba illegally on a jetski with a Florida registration, which he then abandoned in a mangrove swamp on the island`s north coast before making his way overland to Cienfuegos, in south-central Cuba.
The man then attempted to recruit others to assist in committing acts of violence, arson and vandalism before his eventual arrest, according to the report.
State-run media said several other Cubans, residing both in South Florida and in Cuba, were under investigation for their involvement in the alleged plot.
The allegations comes just two days after Cuba published a list of more than 80 foreign nationals and entities it accuses of terrorism, including influencers, many long-time dissidents who reside in the United States and a candidate for mayor of Florida’s Miami-Dade County.
The two groups identified in Saturday`s TV report appear on the list published by Cuba earlier this week, and are labeled as “criminal organizations based in the United States that organize, finance…and execute actions against the security of the Cuban state.”