<\/p>\n
Roberto Azcorra Consuegra, initially misidentified by the Cuban government as one of the men detained following a shooting off the island\u2019s coast with the country\u2019s coast guard, was among a group of Cuban exiles that attended a vigil held at Versailles Cuban Cuisine Restaurant on Thursday, February 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
A small crowd gathered outside Cuban restaurant Versailles Thursday night to pray for the men killed and injured during a shootout with the Cuban Coast Guard off the island\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n
As patrons dined inside, a man wearing a Cuban flag paced along Southwest Eighth Street with an \u201cassassins and terrorists\u201d sign featuring photos of Raul Castro and Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel. Agustin Acosta said he was there to pay \u201ctribute\u201d to the men killed and captured.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a crime, a massacre,\u201d he told the Miami Herald in Spanish.<\/p>\n
A group of Cuban exiles including Agustin Acosta attended a vigil held at Versailles Cuban Cuisine Restaurant after four people were killed when gunfire erupted at sea between a Florida boat and the Cuban Coast Guard, on Thursday, February 26, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
The confrontation happened Wednesday one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel in Cayo Falcones, off the northern coast of the Villa Clara province in central Cuba, according to Cuban government officials.<\/p>\n
Havana says a group of 10 Cuban nationals came aboard a boat registered in Florida armed and planning a \u201cterrorist infiltration.\u201d The Trump administration is investigating the allegations, but has said little beyond acknowledging that two of the men shot in the confrontation were U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n
Roberto Azcorra Consuegra, who was initially on the Cuban government\u2019s list of the people detained but was actually in Miami, came to show his support for the men in Cuba\u2019s custody. Consuegra said he knew most of the men on the boat from gathering at places like Versailles.<\/p>\n
He said he hopes the U.S. government has a \u201cstrong reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the moment to give el punto final, ya,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A group of Cuban exiles including Agustin Acosta (left) and Santiago Ferran, attended a vigil held at Versailles Cuban Cuisine Restaurant after four people were killed when gunfire erupted at sea between a Florida boat and the Cuban Coast Guard, on Thursday, February 26, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
The modest Thursday night crowd brought signs and Cuban and U.S. flags. They chanted libertad, for a moment. They talked about decades of repression on the island. They had questions, and expectations of a full investigation by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of pain,\u201d said Santiago Ferrer, who has lived in the United States for 25 years.<\/p>\n
Ferrer, who still has family in Cuba, said he\u2019s only ever been able to kiss his grandchildren through the phone.<\/p>\n
He described Wednesday\u2019s confrontation as history repeating itself with the Cuban regime. He said the government chooses to \u201cassassinate los muchachos Cubanos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce again Cuba cries,\u201d he said, his eyes watering.<\/p>\n
A group of Cuban exiles including Ram\u00f3n Sa\u00fal S\u00e1nchez, leader of the Democracia organization, attended a vigil held at Versailles Cuban Cuisine Restaurant after four people were killed when gunfire erupted at sea between a Florida boat and the Cuban Coast Guard, on Thursday, February 26, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
Cuban exile Ram\u00f3n Sa\u00fal S\u00e1nchez, president of Movimiento Democracia, was at Versailles \u201cto mourn those killed and to pray for the end of violence in Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanchez, who has organized about 24 \u201cflotillas\u201d to honor Cuban victims and protest the government, said the group of men likely faced 90 miles of rough seas on their travel to the island and had to evade the U.S. vessels before ultimately finding themselves face to face with the Cuban coast guard.<\/p>\n
Michelle Marchante<\/a><\/p>\n Miami Herald<\/p>\n Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health\u2019s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald\u2019s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.\u00a0
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