The Cuban regime's release of an official list of detainees following an incident involving a vessel from Florida and border guard troops has left a family in turmoil.
Among the published names is that of Conrado Galindo Sariol, 58 years old, whose wife and daughters claim they were completely unaware of what had happened and are now demanding a certificate of life.
"It caught us all off guard like everyone else," stated María de Jesús Galindo, the daughter of the detainee, in remarks to Noticias Telemundo.
According to the official report, authorities link Galindo to a group that allegedly arrived on Cuban territory "armed and with terrorist intentions." However, his associates reject this account.
"He was not a terrorist nor has he ever held a weapon; it is true that he was against the government of Cuba," said his wife, Ana Seguí.
The Sunday before the publication of the list, nothing hinted at the situation.
“He told me he was going to work on Sunday,” Seguí recounted. Three days later, his name appeared among the detainees.
Her daughter's reaction was immediate: "It can't be, it's my dad."
A history of opposition
The family acknowledges that Galindo was openly critical of the regime. “He expressed himself a lot, in Cuba too much, which harmed me as well,” Maria de Jesus recalled.
According to their explanation, he served a seven-year sentence on the island.
Far from accepting the official accusation, his wife defends him.
“For me, he is a hero because all he dreams of is the freedom of Cuba,” he stated.
They also claim that before leaving the country, he received threats. “The last thing I heard before coming to the U.S. were words from the government: ‘You leave, or we kill you,’” his daughter recounted.
Unanswered calls
After hearing the news, they tried to obtain direct information.
In a call to Cuba, it is heard that "...they are among the people who entered on a boat...", but no additional details were provided.
They also tried to reach out to the hospital where he is supposedly receiving medical care from Miami.
"I am the daughter, I need to know," is heard in another call. There was no response.
Fear grows with each passing hour without clear information.
Fear that "they will kill him, that they will torture him," his wife expressed through tears.
Her daughter was more straightforward: “I don’t expect anything good from the government; on the contrary, they don’t hesitate to harm the people.”
While the authorities maintain their version of the maritime incident, the family insists that they do not trust the official information and fears that his history as an opponent will expose him to reprisals.
For now, they are only requesting proof of life to confirm that Conrado Galindo Sariol is alive and in what condition he is.
The official version
According to the MININT, the vessel -registered in Florida- was intercepted in Cuban territorial waters. The official version claims that it did not obey the order to stop and fired upon Cuban forces, which resulted in an armed exchange.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, stated that it was an "attempt of armed infiltration with terrorist aims."
According to Havana, the vessel was seized with assault rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, Molotov cocktails, night vision equipment, bulletproof vests, ammunition, and "monograms of counter-revolutionary organizations of a terrorist nature."
The official list of those involved included ten people. In addition to the four deceased, the survivors identified were Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordán Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila.
According to the Cuban government, two of them were on a national list of individuals linked to terrorism investigations.
In parallel, the authorities reported the apprehension on land of Duniel Hernández Santos, whom they described as the group's contact and "confessor of their actions." People identifying as close associates have questioned that version and present him as someone without a history of violence.
Investigation in the US and vigil in Miami
From Washington, the narrative has been more cautious. A U.S. official confirmed that at least one of the deceased and one of the injured were American citizens, and that another had a K-1 visa.
The owner of the boat, a 65-year-old man, reported the vessel stolen from a dock in the Florida Keys.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the United States will conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
In Miami, in front of the iconic Café Versailles, activists and family members held a vigil. Some referred to the events as "a massacre" and spoke of "disproportion" in the use of force.
Others insisted that, although there are pro-armed struggle positions within certain sectors of the exile community, that does not automatically make those involved "terrorists."
More questions than answers
Beyond the diplomatic confrontation and official accusations, the outcome is clear: four men have died and six remain in custody in Cuba.
For the Cuban government, the case fits into the narrative of an organized aggression from the exile community. For family members and close friends, these are workers, believers, or young people whose stories have not yet been heard publicly.
As parallel investigations continue in Havana and Washington, the waters off Villa Clara still raise more questions than answers.
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