A Florida man has been the first person identified as one of four people shot dead by Cuba's coast guard on Wednesday after a speedboat allegedly entered the country's waters and opened fire.
Michel Ortega Casanova was named by the Cuban government as one of the deceased, with the three other victims' identities yet to be named. Six others on the speedboat were also injured, Cuban officials said.
Little is known of the cause of the shootout, but Michel's brother, Misael Ortega Casanova, said he had fallen into an 'obsessive and diabolical' quest for Cuba's freedom.
'Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand,' Misael Ortega Casanova told the Associated Press.
He said that 'no one knew' of his brother's activities that eventually led to his death and described their mother as 'devastated.'
'They became so obsessed that they didn't think about the consequences nor their own lives,' Misael said.
Misael also reflected that believing in heroes can be 'ignorance,' but appeared to hope that his brother's actions could eventually be meaningful.
'Maybe it will justify that some day Cuba will be free,' Misael said.
Michel Ortega Casanova was identified as one of the four people killed by the Cuban coast guard after a Florida-registered speedboat allegedly crossed into the country's waters
On Wednesday, Cuba claimed that the men on the boat planned a 'terrorist infiltration' and were heavily armed. A Cuban Coast Guard vessel is pictured in 2022
Misael claimed to not recognize any of other names released by the Cuban government of those involved in the incident.
In total, four people were killed by Cuba's coast guard when a Florida-registered speed boat allegedly crossed into the Caribbean nation's waters on Wednesday.
Six others were injured after exchanging gunfire with Cuban troops, according to the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba.
Those injured were detained and named by the Cuban government 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 yet to be confirmed by the US government.
'This fight needs to end,' Misael told Telemundo51. 'Today it was my brother's turn, and those who fell with him.'
He added: 'I'm not justifying their methods or their actions, but in one way or another, they have had to give their lives - both inside and outside [Cuba] - for this freedom that has made us lose family or be separated.'
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Ortega Casanova's brother claimed that he had become consumed by an 'obsessive and diabolical quest' to free Cuba
Ortega Casanova's wife, who was not named, declined to comment but confirmed her husband's death.
Her late husband was born in Cuba but migrated to the United States in the 1980s. Ortega Casanova lived in Lakeland, Florida - about 35 miles east of Tampa, officials said.
He later became a US citizen and worked as a truck driver, according to his brother.
Ortega Casanova survived by his wife, his mother, two sisters and a pregnant daughter.
The Tampa-based organization Casa Cuba called him a patriot and said he was a member of the Cuban Republican Party.
The Cuban Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that the men involved, all Cubans living in the US, were planning a 'terrorist infiltration' of the island.
Authorities claimed to have found assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms.
Local officials also claimed the majority of those on the boat have 'a known history of criminal and violent activity'.
The ministry specifically said González and Gómez are 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.'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would be carrying out its own investigation into the incident.
'We're not gonna base our conclusions on what they told us,' Rubio said.
He added that he would not comment 'about the specific boat until we have all the information.'
'I'm not going to speculate about whose boat it was, what they were doing, why they were there, what actually happened,' Rubio said.
Rubio also said that it was 'highly unusual to see shootouts on open sea like that.
Vice President JD Vance said Rubio had briefed him on the situation in Cuba.
'Hopefully it's not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can't say more because I just don't know more,' Vance said.
