AN AMERICAN man gunned down in the Cuban speedboat shootout was “obsessed” with the country’s freedom, according to his brother.
Michel Ortega Casanova has now been pictured as one of four insurgents who were killed by coast guards as they stormed towards the island nation.
The would-be revolutionaries were allegedly armed with assault rifles and Molotov cocktails.
Havana claimed that the 10 passengers aboard the Florida-registered boat fired shots first, injuring a commander as they were encountered just one nautical mile off the northern coast.
Michel’s brother, Misael, has now shared that his late loved one had lived in the United States for over 20 years, but would still agonise over Cubans’ suffering.
He added that his brother was on an obsessive and diabolical quest to secure the country’s freedom.
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“They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives,” Misael said from Miami.
Adding to the heartbreak, the news had caught Michel’s family completely by surprise.
Misael said that he did not recognise a single name on the list of the boat’s occupants released by the Cuban government.
“No one knew,” Misael said of his brother’s plans. “My mother is devastated.”
He added that he hopes his brother’s death will be for a worthwhile cause.
“Maybe it will justify that some day Cuba will be free.”
Cuban authorities, meanwhile, say Michel was accompanied on the boat by two wanted terrorists, speaking of Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez.
Officials who searched the vessel found assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, bulletproof vests, telescopic sights and camouflage uniforms.
Adding to intrigue, the boat was reported stolen from an island in the Florida Keys archipelago 140 miles (225 kilometres) southwest of Miami, according to a report from the Monroe County Sheriffs Office.
The ten occupants were all Cubans who live in the US, according to state media.
Cuba’s government said the majority of the boats passengers “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed the US will “find out exactly what happened” and “respond accordingly.”
“We’re not gonna base our conclusions on what they told us,” he said.
The passengers were part of a flotilla to get relatives out of Cuba, the New York Times reported.
An official told the paper it was not a US Navy or Coast Guard vessel.
Florida’s Attorney General has ordered an investigation into the shooting.
Representative Carlos A. Gimenez – a Republican from Florida – said the shooting raised concerns on the use of lethal force against US registered vessels.
In a public statement, he called for “an immediate investigation into this massacre”.
“United States authorities must determine whether any of the victims were US citizens or legal residents and establish exactly what occurred.”
The firefight comes at a perilous moment for Cuba.
Top officials believe the island’s iron-fisted communist rulers are more exposed than ever, with the economy at its weakest point in decades.
Cuba has been hit by skyrocketing prices and oil shortages as a US blockade has taken hold.
President Donald Trump has plotted to entirely blockade the island and eventually topple the communist regime.
Like Venezuela and Iran, he has pushed the regime to cut a deal.