A truck driver who fell into an “obsessive and diabolical quest” for Cuba’s freedom was one of the four passengers killed on the Florida-registered speedboat that allegedly infiltrated its waters and was shot at by the country’s border guards.
Michel Ortega Casanova “became so obsessed” with the plot that he and the three others killed on the stolen vessel “didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” according to his brother, Misael.
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.”
“No one knew,” Misael told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “My mother is devastated.”
Casanova had lived in the US for more than 20 years and leaves behind his mom, two sisters – one of which still lives in Cuba – and a pregnant daughter.
On top of the four killed, six people were injured in the shootout and the boat was armed with assault rifles, handguns, and Molotov cocktails, according to the Cuban authorities.
Amijail Sánchez González and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez were identified by Cuban authorities as two of the people on board.
They were wanted for “the promotion, planning, organization, financing support or commission” of terrorism.
Duniel Hernández Santos was also arrested by the Cuban authorities, who claimed he had been sent from the US to “guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration.” It’s unclear if he was on board the boat.
A probe into the Pro-Line vessel theft has been launched — and FBI agents have already quizzed the boat’s owner. The boat, built in 1981, was docked in a Florida Keys marina before it vanished, according to ABC News.
The vessel’s owner is not being treated as a suspect.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he wants to verify the facts and the shootout is being investigated by the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security.
“The majority of the facts being publicly reported are those by the information provided by the Cubans,” he told reporters in St. Kitts.
“We will verify that independently as we gather more information, and we’ll be prepared to respond accordingly.
“We’re going to have our own information on this. We’re going to figure out exactly what happened.”
James Uthmeier, the Florida Attorney General, blasted the Cuban regime as he called for an investigation to get underway.
“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he said.
Florida lawmaker Carlos A. Gimenez called for the Cuban regime to be “relegated to the dust bin of history.”
Havana has claimed it was “safeguarding its sovereignty,” justifying the reason for its response.
With Post wires