Killed by Cuban Coast Guard Wanted to "Go Fight for Cuba's Freedom and Incite Rebellion VIDEO

One of the four men killed on a Florida-registered motorboat during a shootout with the Cuban Coast Guard wanted to "go fight" for "the freedom of Cuba" and incite rebellion in the country, one of his political associates told Agence France-Presse today.

The Cuban government, which has been under pressure from Washington for several weeks, declared yesterday's clash an attempt to "infiltrate with terrorist intent" an armed group whose members are "Cubans living in the United States".

Havana has released the name of one of the dead - Michel Ortega Casanova - and the six wounded.

Casanova's goal "was to go and fight the criminal and murderous drug trade, to see if he could ignite a revolution and if the people would rise up and support him," said Wilfredo Beira, leader of the Cuban Republican Party in Tampa - a political organization of opponents of the Cuban government based in Florida.

"I warned him that this was not the time to act in this way for the freedom of Cuba, that it was necessary to wait," Beira added in a telephone interview with AFP.

He told local media that he had known Casanova - a 54-year-old truck driver - for four or five years and had last spoken to him 10 days ago.

The activist told him he could take action "at any moment," he added.

"In Florida, several groups openly declare that they are ready, that they are conducting military exercises to fight for the freedom of their homeland. And Mitchell was part of those groups," Beira said.

He also told AFP that he knew one of the wounded - Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez, whom he met at a political event in Miami last February.

The United States said it had launched an investigation after the exchange of fire and the interception of the boat in Cuban territorial waters.

The incident came amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana in recent weeks, as President Donald Trump's oil embargo on the Caribbean island nation has deepened an economic crisis that has been ongoing since years.