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A truck driver from Florida, who tragically lost his life in a gunfight with Cuba’s coast guard, has been identified and shown to the public for the first time.
Michel Ortega Casanova was driven by what his brother described as an “obsessive and diabolical quest” to liberate Cuba.
He was one of ten Cuban nationals accused of using a speedboat registered in Florida, armed with weapons and ammunition, in an attempt to breach Cuban borders, according to Havana authorities.
Casanova’s brother, Misael, explained that Michel became so fixated on the mission that neither he nor the three others who perished considered the repercussions of their actions.
“My mother is heartbroken,” Misael shared with the Associated Press after the family was informed of Casanova’s passing.
Misael, who spoke about how Cubans had endured “great suffering,” said his family was in the dark about the operation, which Caribbean authorities defined as an attempt to infiltrate the country for “terrorist ends.”
The brother, however, said he could tell something was wrong when he failed to connect with his brother over the weekend.
“He always called me on Sundays. When I tried to contact him and he didn’t answer, I found it strange,” he told the US-based Marti Noticias.
Casanova had lived in the US for more than 20 years and leaves behind his mom, two sisters — one of whom still lives in Cuba — and a pregnant daughter.
Along with Casanova, Cuban officials identified Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez as suspects who were arrested aboard the vessel.
Both men were wanted by Cuban authorities “based on their involvement in the promotion, planning, organization, financing, support or commission of actions carried out in the national territory or in other countries, in connection with acts of terrorism,” officials said.
Both González and Gómez were identified as six of the people injured in the shootout with Cuban troops, with the others including Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra.
Three other suspects who were arrested during the incident have yet to be publicly named.
Despite being named by the Cuban government as one of the people injured and arrested in the shoot out, Azcorra Consuegra denied any involvement as he called in from southern Florida, NBC Miami reported.