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René González Sehwerert, president of the Aviation Club of Cuba (CAC), publicly defended his organization and the pilot involved following the death of the 12-year-old boy Alejandro in a paragliding accident in the Isle of Youth on Saturday, July 5th.
The minor, a resident of the Abel Santamaría neighborhood, was participating in a tandem flight at Minint Beach, in the Cayo Los Monos area, when a strong wind current swept the aircraft out to sea, forcing an emergency water landing about 500 meters from the shore.
While trying to free himself from the harnesses in the water, the pilot lost control of the passenger. According to the official statement from the CAC, the minor "disappeared before he could be rescued."
His body was located around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, July 7, after more than 21 hours of intense searching.
In response to the public uproar, González intervened with a statement to downplay the institutional responsibility.
"It is the first fatality of the CAC in 15 years, during which 60,000 tandem parachute jumps have been made," he wrote, adding that in that period "thousands of flights in paramotors and paragliding have taken place, including hundreds involving minors."
He also justified the pilot's decision to unfasten the harnesses, arguing that "releasing the harnesses is essential to assist the passenger in the water, as the equipment could drag both of them down if not released."
González called for caution before issuing judgments, awaiting the conclusion of the investigation into whether security protocols were followed.
However, their version was publicly denied by the aeronautics community, which documented at least four previous fatalities in Cuban aerial sports between 2022 and 2023.
The Facebook page Amantes de la Aviación Cubana identified the victims: Fabián Batista Hidalgo, who died in a paragliding accident in Santiago de Cuba in December 2022; Raidel Cobas, in parachuting in March 2023; along with Miladis Ríos Góngora and Edelio Varona Pino.
The Cuban Federation of Parachuting itself contradicted González's narrative by stating that "the air sports community is in mourning," a phrase that suggests familiarity with previous tragedies, rather than an unprecedented event.
González, a former spy of the Red Avispa sentenced in the United States for espionage in the 90s and named Hero of the Republic upon his return to Cuba, has been presiding over the CAC since his return to the island, the governing body for air sports in the country.
A joint commission from the CAC and the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics (IACC) departed on Tuesday, July 8, for the Island of Youth to assess the legal, technical, and safety aspects of the flight, although the results of that investigation have not yet been published.
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