The mother of Michel Ortega Casanova, one of the five Cubans who died following the confrontation between a Florida boat and Cuban border troops on February 25 in Cayos Falcones, Villa Clara, has publicly demanded the return of her son's body. The woman, who lives in Spain, summarizes the family's pain in a single sentence: "I want my son's body."
Niurka Casanova made these statements in an interview with CiberCuba, in which she emphasized that she does not care about politics; all she wants is her son’s body.
According to what she said, he would call her several times a day. That’s why it struck her so much to go a day without speaking to him. It was then that her other three children, cautiously, given her age and hypertension issues, mentioned that there was a possibility he might be dead since he was on the boat. "As a mother, I feel it. I know he is dead," Casanova confessed.
Michel Ortega Casanova, aged 54, originally from Morón, Ciego de Ávila, had been living in the United States for over two decades. He was a truck driver and the owner of a transportation company in Lakeland, in the Tampa area of Florida, and a member of the Republican Party of Cuba. He died along with Pavel Alling Peña, Ledián Padrón Guevara, and Héctor Duani Cruz Correa when the vessel they were traveling in, along with six other people, was intercepted in the northeast area of the El Pino canal.
A fifth crew member, Roberto Álvarez Ávila, died on March 4 while in custody due to injuries sustained during the confrontation.
The daughter of Michel Ortega, Daily Ortega González, who was eight and a half months pregnant when the events occurred, told Telemundo 51: "All I want is to have him back. To lay him to rest and give him the farewell he deserves." She added: "My dad is an upstanding man. He lived for his daughter, his family."
Her sister Norita Zamora, who lives in Cuba, made a desperate plea: "I am the sister of Michel Ortega, I am in Cuba ready to identify my brother's body before it is cremated. Please help us, we want to recognize his body." Another sister, Dayana Morales, publicly asked if it was possible that the bodies had already been cremated, since Michel was a U.S. citizen.
The family's fear is not unfounded. The Cuban authorities cremated the body of Ledián Padrón Guevara without family consent, which forced his loved ones to hold a symbolic funeral with an empty urn and photographs.
The lawyer Alain Espinosa, from the organization Cubalex, warned that the cremation of the bodies would destroy potential forensic evidence that could confirm or refute the official version of the regime, which states that the crew of the boat fired first at the border guards.
The brother Misael Ortega also reported that his younger sister's house in Cuba was being watched by four State Security agents, which adds a layer of pressure and intimidation on the family members who remain on the island.
The boat, with the Florida registration FL7726SH, was carrying ten people, all Cubans residing in the United States. Six survivors were arrested and remain under the custody of the regime. Cubalex filed a complaint with the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which gave the Cuban regime until March 19, 2026, to provide information about the exact whereabouts of the detainees, the charges they face, and the legal grounds for their detention. The Cuban Prosecutor's Office warned that the survivors could face charges of terrorism, with penalties ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
Casa Cuba de Tampa, the organization to which Michel Ortega belonged, described him as "a patriot, a man committed to the cause of freedom" and declared three days of mourning with flags at half-mast. The family contacted the U.S. embassy in Havana to arrange for the repatriation of the body, but as of March 2, there had been no response.
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