- Cuban authorities identify the six detainees and one of the four dead in an armed incident in waters off Villa Clara
- The exile community is divided between those who support this action to “awaken the people” and those who fear the use the regime may make of this “victory”
14ymedio, Madrid, February 26, 2026 – The ten occupants of the speedboat coming from the United States and intercepted in Cuban waters this Wednesday “intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes,” states the Ministry of the Interior, which published the identities of those detained in the operation, all Cuban residents of Florida.
They are Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra. The first two are on the list of individuals the regime considers terrorists, published in July 2025.
The first had been wanted since 2023, following the arrest of another Cuban resident in the United States who brought into Matanzas “firearms, ammunition, and other supplies with the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts.” The second was under investigation as part of a case involving “sabotage activities” in Villa Clara, in which another Island citizen was detained and prosecuted.
Among the deceased, three have not yet been identified, according to the authorities, who have provided the name of only one: Michel Ortega Casanova
Among the deceased, three have not yet been identified, the authorities say, reporting only the name of one: Michel Ortega Casanova, a member of the Cuban Republican Party, which is also one of the organizations considered terrorist by the Cuban regime. He had been president of the party’s local Tampa chapter and was recently replaced by Wilfredo Beyra, who yesterday went live on Facebook to claim responsibility for the action of those “patriots.” “They did not go to Cuba to carry out a terrorist act; they went to do what very few have had the courage to do. They went to attempt an extreme sacrifice to awaken a people for Cuba’s freedom,” he argued.
The claim of responsibility for the attack has been widespread. Casa Cuba of Tampa, linked to Ortega Casanova and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, has declared three days of official mourning with flags at half-mast for the “anti-Castro fighters fallen in fulfillment of their sacred duty to the Homeland.” René Montes De Oca, vice president of the group, referred to the deceased as a “brother in ideas and a friend.”
“May God keep them in His Holy Love; our condolences to family and friends. Today the exile community wears mourning and Cuba is clothed in Glory with the redeeming blood of its finest sons,” he added.
Not all of the exile community has seen it the same way. Debates have been intense all night on social media, and many voices have considered this action a mistake. “Now it turns out that the dictatorship has its first victory, against an American invasion, which it defeated with resounding success, the narrative they were already pushing,” lamented a Cuban in Florida.
The Cuban Republican Party, for its part, made public a statement this Thursday distancing itself from the action, which it attributes to “individual decisions or actions that its members or supporters may undertake in a personal capacity.”
The organization acknowledges that Ortega Casanova was a party member but states that “the organization was completely unaware of his intentions, plans, or participation in said event,” which, on the other hand, it says it understands. “This tragic event is a sign of the level of desperation to which the Cuban people have been pushed after decades of repression, lack of freedoms, and systematic closure of civic avenues,” it adds, reiterating its “commitment to political struggle, responsibility, and respect for life.”
Meanwhile, in Florida, an independent investigation is underway with the participation of the FBI. Agents from the bureau went to a home in Miami Lakes linked to the incident, since the address appeared in the property records of the vessel involved, a “speedboat” registered in Florida as FL7726SH.
The White House, for its part, said it was monitoring the attack, according to U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
“Marco told me about it about 15 minutes ago, but we don’t know many details. It’s a situation we are monitoring. Hopefully it’s not as bad as we fear it could be,” he stated.
The Secretary of State, who was at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit in Saint Kitts and Nevis, where he spoke at length about Cuba, said: “I am not going to speculate or comment; I want to know what happened. We are going to find out exactly what happened and we will respond appropriately.”
“I am not going to speculate or comment; I want to know what happened. We are going to find out exactly what happened and we will respond appropriately,” he maintained
The head of U.S. diplomacy emphasized that, for now, all the information comes from Cuban authorities and that the Donald Trump Administration wants to verify it with “independent information,” although the explicit acknowledgment made from Florida seems to foreshadow the outcome.
The incident occurred this Wednesday morning, when a vessel approached within one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino Channel, in the Villa Clara key of Falcones. “As a surface unit of the Border Guard Troops of the Ministry of the Interior, with five personnel, approached for identification,” the ministry itself indicated in an initial statement, “fire was opened from the offending boat against the Cuban personnel, causing the commander of the Cuban vessel to be injured.”
In the operation, the Border Guard Troops seized “assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), bulletproof vests, telescopic sights, and camouflage uniforms.”
The Government also announced that a Cuban resident on the Island had been detained, Duniel Hernández Santos, “sent from the United States to ensure the reception of the armed infiltration, who is currently confessing to his actions.” According to some reports, he had been deported from the United States in 2024.
Russia is the only country that has so far spoken on the matter. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, during his daily telephone press briefing, supported the actions of the Island’s agents.
“The Cuban border guards did what they had to do in a situation like this,” he stated, adding that “regarding the security situation around the Island, it is very important that all parties exercise restraint and not allow any kind of provocation.”
Peskov sought to downplay the matter and disconnect it from the deteriorated relations between Cuba and the United States, noting that “there is nothing to comment on. Havana reported that the Cuban citizens detained who attempted to enter national territory with weapons acknowledged that their aim was to carry out terrorist attacks.”
Earlier, and less restrained, the spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had said: “This is an aggressive provocation by the United States, whose objective is to escalate the situation and unleash a conflict,” she told the TASS news agency.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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