UPDATE: One of the Passengers on U.S.-registered Speedboat Killed by Cuba’s Coast Guard Identified as American Citizen

New details have emerged regarding one of the passengers aboard a Florida-registered speedboat who was killed by Cuba’s Coast Guard on Wednesday.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Cuban authorities said their border guards killed four passengers and wounded six others aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat after the passengers allegedly opened fire on Cuban soldiers just one nautical mile off Cuba’s coast.

The New York Post reported that one of the passengers who was killed was identified as American citizen Michel Ortega Casanova, who has lived in the United States for over 20 years after fleeing Cuba.

Misael Casanova, the brother of Michel Casanova, shared with the Associated Press that his brother had become obsessed in recent days with the liberation of Cuba from its communist regime.

Per MS NOW:

Misael Ortega Casanova, brother of Michel Ortega Casanova, told The Associated Press late Wednesday that he was mourning his brother’s death but lamented that he fell into what he called an “obsessive and diabolical” quest for Cuba’s freedom.

“Only us Cubans who have lived over there understand,” Misael Ortega Casanova said, referring to the “great suffering” that he and other Cubans on the island have faced.

He noted that his brother, who was a truck driver and an American citizen who lived for more than 20 years in the U.S., leaves behind his wife, his mother, two sisters — one of whom lives in Cuba — and a daughter who is pregnant.

“No one knew,” Misael said of his brother’s plans. “My mother is devastated.” He added: “They became so obsessed that they didn’t think about the consequences nor their own lives.”

Cuba’s government on Wednesday claimed the 10 passengers on board the U.S.-registered boat were attempting to “infiltrate Cuba” in order to “unleash terrorism.”

In response to the fatal shooting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents fled Cuba in the 1950s during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, stated, “We’re going to find out exactly what happened here, and then we’ll respond accordingly.”

WATCH:

SECRETARY RUBIO on CUBA: What I’m telling you is we’re going to find out exactly what happened and who was involved. We’re not going to just take what somebody else tells us.

I’m very confident we will be able to know the story independently. pic.twitter.com/965ul2lC8b

— Department of State (@StateDept) February 26, 2026

Rubio later clarified that no U.S. personnel were among the boat’s passengers.

The incident comes just weeks after President Trump signed an executive order placing tariffs on any nation that supplies Cuba with oil.

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