The Cuban Enrique René Reyes Martínez, 38 years old, recounted how he managed to survive several days adrift in the Florida Strait, clinging to a small improvised raft, without water or food, surrounded by sharks and facing waves of up to three meters.
He states that his greatest motivation for not giving up was the hope of seeing his daughter and family again.
In a telephone interview granted from Havana to the journalist from Univision 23, Javier Díaz, after being rescued off Key Biscayne and repatriated to Cuba, the survivor described the extreme conditions he faced and the moments when he feared for his life.
“I survived because I wanted to see my family again, my daughter... Those were the things that kept me alive, and I always thought that I wouldn’t die in the sea,” she confessed.
Reyes Martínez clarified that he never intended to leave Cuba and ended up at sea after setting out to fish from Cojímar, Havana, on Thursday, October 8.
“I never intended to leave the country. This was just something that happened to me. It was quite difficult and complicated. I am alive thanks to God because who survives on a little piece of cork like that?”, he expressed.
"I fought day and night against three-meter waves."
The fisherman described the difficulties he faced during the days he spent in the Florida Strait, clinging to an improvised vessel that capsized several times.
"I fought day and night against three-meter high waves. That little boat of mine capsized, the piece of 'cork' turned over several times. For three days it rained, I spent three nights under heavy rain and I never gave up," he recounted.
Without potable water or food, he had to endure physical exhaustion, sunburns, and the constant danger of falling into the sea.
The nights were especially distressing. The darkness prevented him from distinguishing what was happening around him, and the loneliness heightened his fear.
“It was terrible when night fell because it was like a wolf's den. You couldn't see anything. There you were, alone, hearing voices as if you were going crazy,” he recalled.
Despite the circumstances, he assured that he never gave up hope of surviving.
He also explained that he did not use oars to move during the journey and that it was the ocean currents that carried him near Florida.
"My journey was not based on rowing; it was propelled by the currents of the sea, which have always been on my side," he asserted.
Sharks up to three meters beneath their small raft
One of the most dangerous moments was when he/she saw sharks swimming beneath the precarious boat.
"I had them beneath me, two-meter-and-some and three-meter-and-some sharks under me," he recounted, referring to the size of the sharks he claimed to have seen.
However, he explained that he never allowed himself to be overcome by despair, despite the thirst, hunger, and the presence of sharks.
“I never lost hope. I never lost confidence in myself. I never went crazy or threw myself into the sea… not from thirst, not from hunger, nor for anything. I never thought of any of that,” he stated.
His goal was to remain on the small support that kept him afloat, even when the waves threatened to capsize him and he had to fight to avoid being at the mercy of the sea.
"I thought about seeing my family again, my daughter."
When Javier Díaz asked him what he had thought during the moments when his life was in danger, Reyes Martínez explained that the hope of being able to hug his daughter again was his main motivation.
“I thought about living. I always believed that I would never stay there, nor would I die there. I thought about seeing my family again, my daughter, and I always fought for that,” he declared.
The fisherman also attributed his survival to faith and to the prayers he said during the days he spent at sea.
“The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre was with me because I prayed to her a lot. I also prayed a lot to God to accompany me, to not leave me alone,” he expressed, referring to the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, patroness of Cuba.
"I had no strength to walk" when they rescued him
On Monday, October 12, a couple returning from the Bahamas to Miami spotted the fisherman in the distance and alerted the authorities via the emergency maritime channel VHF 16.
Units from CBP Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Coast Guard participated in the rescue off Key Biscayne, approximately 16 nautical miles east of the coast.
By then, Reyes Martínez was completely exhausted, dehydrated, and suffering from sunburn.
"Dehydrated and burned from the sun, and without strength because when they pulled me out of that piece of cork, I didn't have the energy to walk," he explained.
The fisherman was transferred to the Coast Guard vessel USCGC Melvin Bell without setting foot on U.S. soil.
During his conversation with Javier Díaz, he expressed gratitude for the attention he received from U.S. authorities after the rescue.
Two days later, on Wednesday, October 14, he was repatriated to Cuba, where his grandmother and aunt were waiting for him.
The first photographs released after his return to Havana showed him thin and with sunburns.
"My daughter almost lost her father."
After surviving the experience, Reyes Martínez stated that he does not plan to go fishing again.
“No, I'm not going fishing anymore after this. This was a very bad experience and my daughter almost lost her father,” he confessed.
Although he insisted that his departure was not an attempt to emigrate, he also responded to a question about the risks of leaving Cuba in makeshift boats.
"I do not advise anyone to take that madness. It's a rather difficult and complicated path, where you are putting your life at risk," he warned.
The family accounts regarding their departure from Cuba
Reyes Martínez resides in Havana, although he hails from the neighborhood of Los Cangrejitos in Santiago de Cuba. According to the information initially provided by his family, he had gone fishing from Cojímar to find food for his little daughter.
In the days following his disappearance, various accounts emerged regarding the circumstances of his exit.
His aunt, Yelsa Reyes Fabelo, stated that "he was desperate to leave Cuba, but that was not intentional." A cousin, on the other hand, maintained that the trip had indeed been deliberate and that Enrique had hidden his plans from the family.
The fisherman himself rejected that interpretation in his interview with Univision 23, insisting that he never intended to leave the country.
The same week of their rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard repatriated another six Cubans following two separate operations in the Florida Straits.
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