Enrique René Reyes Martínez, 38 years old and originally from Santiago de Cuba, was identified by his family as the man rescued on Monday from a makeshift foam raft about 16 miles east of Key Biscayne, Florida, after allegedly being missing at sea for four days.
The identity of the Cuban was confirmed by his loved ones to independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, who investigated the case after images of the rescue were released by U.S. authorities.
Reyes Martínez is originally from the Los Cangrejitos neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba, although he had been living in Havana for several years. According to his family, he left Thursday morning from the beach in Cojímar, and since then they have lost all communication with him.
The communicator Niover Licea, from the page "Nio Reporta un Crimen," had previously disclosed his disappearance and alerted Mayeta Labrada about the possibility that it could be the man found off the coast of Florida.
However, there are conflicting accounts of how it ended up at sea.
His closest relatives insist that he had gone fishing and that a storm swept him away from the Cuban shores.
On his part, journalist Javier Díaz from N+ Univision 23, indicated that other acquaintances maintain that Reyes Martínez may have intentionally left Cuba because he wanted to emigrate. According to these testimonies, the man had also been detained by Cuban authorities weeks before his disappearance. None of these claims have been independently verified.
The rescue took place on Monday, October 12, when a sailor spotted the Cuban on a small makeshift structure made of foam blocks, wooden planks, and ropes, barely enough to keep one person afloat.
The witness alerted the authorities via the maritime emergency channel VHF 16. Air and Maritime Operations units from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics assessed the man and determined that he did not require emergency medical attention. He was subsequently transferred to the USCGC Melvin Bell for immigration processing.
U.S. authorities emphasized that the Cuban was fortunate to survive and warned about the dangers of navigating in such precarious vessels.
Since the elimination of the "wet foot, dry foot" policy in January 2017, reaching U.S. shores does not guarantee Cubans the opportunity to remain legally in the country. Those who are intercepted at sea may face repatriation processes, although there are protection procedures for individuals who express fear of persecution or torture.
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