Rare clash off island’s coast took place amid oil embargo and heightened tensions between two countries

Cuba’s government claims it thwarted an attempt by gunmen to infiltrate from the US, after its coastguard fired on a Florida-registered speedboat in an exchange of fire near its shores, killing four people and wounding six.

The interior ministry claimed people arrested after the firefight on Wednesday said they “intended to carry out an infiltration for the purposes of terrorism”.