New Delhi, Feb. 26 -- Cuban authorities said Wednesday that the occupants of a Florida-registered speedboat involved in a deadly gunfight in the island's territorial waters were armed Cuban nationals residing in the United States and were intent on carrying out "an infiltration with terrorist ends." Four people were killed and six wounded in the confrontation, according to Havana.

The episode, which unfolded off the northern coast of central Cuba, has reignited tensions between Washington and Havana at a moment of acute economic strain on the island and renewed scrutiny of maritime traffic between Florida and Cuba.

According to a statement from Cuba's Ministry of the Interior, the vessel approached within one nautical mile northeast of ...