A boat that reportedly entered into an open-water gunfight with the Cuban military on Feb. 25 was reported stolen from Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys, according to multiple reports.
The man accused of the theft, Hector Cruz Correa, was one of the 10 armed men aboard, and one of four killed in the gunfire, according to Cuban officials. The other six remain in custody.
On Feb. 25, the Cuban Ministry of the Interior reported that a “speedboat” registered in Florida, with the registration number FL7726SH, approached within 1 nautical mile of the Cuban coast near Cayo Falcones. When Cuban Border Guard troops approached the vessel, the ministry said, the crew of the intruding boat opened fire, injuring the Cuban boat’s commander, Yosmany Hernández Hernández.
Calling the intrusion an “attempted armed infiltration for terrorist purposes,” Cuban officials said they found a full complement of weaponry aboard the boat, including assault rifles, sniper rifles and handguns, nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition, Molotov cocktails, bulletproof vests, night vision equipment, a drone, tactical knives and counterrevolutionary insignia, among other items.
Later the same day, the owner of the intruding boat, Angel Walter Montera, reported his vessel as stolen from Big Pine Key, contacting the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office less than 12 hours after news of the confrontation broke.
According to Montera’s report, he had discovered his vessel missing when he visited its dock on Avenue G in Big Pine Key around 9:30 that morning. He told deputies he stored the boat at the canalfront vacant lot in exchange for doing construction work for the lot’s owner, but hadn’t checked on it personally in over a week. A white Chevy pickup truck registered to Cruz Correa, who Montera said does tile work for him, was left in the lot.
Montera said he initially believed Cruz Correa had taken the boat without permission to go fishing, and tried several times to call him with no response. But later that day, Montera began receiving calls after news broke that the intruding vessel’s registration number, FL7726SH, matched his missing 1981 24-foot Pro-Line, and he called in the theft just before 5 p.m.
Montera told deputies that Cruz Correa was in the process of repairing two other large vessels and had borrowed a trailer from him to store one of the boats. Interviewing neighbors in Montera’s report, an Avenue G resident said she saw a man board the boat around 6:30 the night before.
“She found it odd … since the owner, Angel, is known by her … and he doesn’t usually go out this late,” the report states.
Visiting the Avenue G site on Feb. 26, the Keys Weekly found Homeland Security Investigations agents and sheriff’s deputies on site. The white Chevy pickup with a plate matching Montera’s report was still in the lot. Several passing neighbors said they were surprised to see the boat gone, as it had been used infrequently in recent months and they believed Montera to be ill.
That same day, Cuban vice minister of foreign affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío released the names of the four men killed in the offshore firefight, including Cruz Correa, Pavel Alling Peña, Michel Ortega Casanova and Ledián Padrón Guevara. Also aboard were Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González and Roberto Álvarez Ávila, Cossío said.
A statement from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior characterized the group as Cuban nationalists living in the U.S., “most of (whom) have prior records involving criminal and violent activity.” It said Sanchez Gonzalez and Cruz Gomez were wanted members of the country’s terrorism watch list.
“Anti-Cuban groups operating in the United States resort to terrorism as an expression of their hatred against Cuba and the impunity they believe they enjoy,” Cossío said.
In another statement the following day, Cuban officials said the men originally left Marathon Key in two boats, but had continued in one boat when the second had technical difficulties. Originally reported as a “speedboat,” images later released of Montera’s vessel showed it as a single-outboard vessel set up as a commercial fishing and trap boat, including commercial licensing numbers on the hull.
“The detainees … face charges for armed assault, illegal entry into the national territory and crimes associated with terrorist acts, violence and illicit arms trafficking,” the Cuban government said.
Montera told sheriff’s deputies that Cruz Correa, who was born in Cuba and lived in Homestead, had two young daughters still in Cuba. Ortega Casanova’s brother told the Associated Press soon after the firefight that Casanova was on an “obsessive and diabolical” quest for Cuba’s freedom.
The firefight comes amid already-heightened tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, including an oil blockade and other economic pressures to topple the country’s communist regime. Cuban officials gave a nod to the tensions in preliminary statements after the shooting.
“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region,” the statement read.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the incident wasn’t tied to a United States government operation, but said he deeply distrusted the Cuban authorities’ version of events and that the U.S. embassy had yet to receive access to the detained passengers.
“It’s highly unusual to see shootouts on the open sea,” Rubio told reporters. “We are not going to base our conclusions on what they (the Cuban government) have told us … and we’ll respond accordingly.”
