Man killed on speedboat off Cuba lived in U.S. for 20 years and had “obsessive” quest for Cuba’s freedom, brother says
(CBS NEWS) – CBS News reports that the brother of one of the men who was killed after taking a U.S.-registered speedboat into Cuban waters and allegedly opening fire on the country’s border patrol said his sibling was fixated on overthrowing Cuba’s government.
Misael Ortega Casanova, brother of Michael Ortega Casanova, told the Associated Press that his brother had fallen into an “obsessive and diabolical” quest to free Cuba from its communist government. Cubans in the United States and Cuban Americans have long protested the current Cuban government, and accused the island’s leadership of human rights violations.
“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Casanova said of his brother and the nine other men who were aboard the boat.
The Cuban government said Wednesday afternoon that a speedboat registered in Florida had entered Cuban waters carrying weapons and 10 Cuban nationals who lived in the U.S. The group allegedly planned to carry out a terrorist attack on the island, the Cuban government said, and had assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms aboard the vessel. Cuba’s interior ministry said all 10 passengers had “a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
The speedboat was approached by a border patrol boat and opened fire on it, the government said. The border patrol returned fire, killing four people and wounding the other six passengers. The six wounded passengers were arrested and received medical assistance, the Cuban government said.
“Cuba will defend itself with determination and firmness against any terrorist and mercenary aggression against its sovereignty and national stability,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X on Thursday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the U.S. government does not have any other information besides what the Cuban authorities have said. He said that the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard and other agencies are looking into the incident.
“We’re gonna find out exactly what happened here and we’ll respond accordingly,” Rubio said. In a separate news conference, Vice President JD Vance said the White House is monitoring the situation.
Tensions between the United States and Cuba have been escalating recently, with President Trump putting new sanctions and tariffs on the Caribbean country after the operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Michael Ortega Casanova is the only deceased person on the boat to have been identified so far. The injured passengers have been identified as Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. Their identities have not been confirmed by the United States.
A seventh person, Cuban national Duniel Hernández Santos, was arrested on the island of Cuba. He alleged that he had been sent from the U.S. “to guarantee the reception of the armed infiltration,” the Cuban Interior Ministry said.
Casanova told the Associated Press that his brother, who was a truck driver and American citizen who lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, did not tell anyone of his plans. He was married, and his daughter is pregnant, Casanova said. Casanova told the AP that their mother “is devastated” by his death. He said he hopes his brother’s death may lead to change.
“Maybe it will justify that some day Cuba will be free,” he said.
