The Cuban government has identified who it calls the “mastermind” of the Cuban expat expedition that allegedly engaged in a shootout with the Cuban coast guard last week.
Cuban officials accuse former political prisoner and now Miami resident Maritza Lugo Fernandez of organizing the alleged Cuban expat boat raid – though she apparently did not take part in it. Lugo was a prominent Cuban dissident in the 1990s. She was exiled in 2000, but remains a leader of the 30 de Noviembre anti-communist movement.
WLRN could not reach Lugo for comment. But after the Cuban government’s accusation, she posted on Facebook in Spanish: “There is no greater act of love or sacrifice than giving your life for brothers and homeland.”
Cuba has said four expats were killed and six injured in last Wednesday’s alleged firefight with the coast guard off Cuba’s north coast. Cuba says their speed boat, which was stolen from the Florida Keys, was heavily armed for a “terrorist infiltration.”
READ MORE: How a stolen Big Pine Key speedboat ended up part of a deadly shootout off the Cuban coast
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