{"id":183500,"date":"2026-03-08T21:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183500\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T21:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:39:17","slug":"cuban-exile-in-miami-denies-masterminding-terrorism-plot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/183500\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban exile in Miami denies masterminding terrorism plot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maritza<\/p>\n

Maritza Lugo Fern\u00e1ndez speaks during the Proof of Life of Our Brothers ceremony at the Bay of Pigs Monument on Sunday, March 8. Cuban dissident groups held a press conference to demand repatriation of the bodies of the men killed in the shootout with the Cuban Coast Guard on Sunday, March 8, 2026. They also demanded that the U.S. citizens involved in the incident be allowed to speak to U.S. diplomatic employees.<\/p>\n

PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n

adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

A Miami activist accused by Cuban authorities of masterminding a terrorist attack vowed Sunday she will not stop fighting while men detained after a deadly shootout with Cuba\u2019s coast guard remain imprisoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod willing, and very soon we can embrace our brothers in a free Cuba,\u201d said Maritza Lugo Fern\u00e1ndez at a press conference in front of the Bay of Pigs Monument in Little Havana on Sunday. \u201cWe have much hope now more than ever. This is the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maritza Maritza Lugo Fern\u00e1ndez, the woman the Cuban authorities accused of masterminding a plan to invade Cuba, stands with a portrait Amijail Sanchez and others who were killed or detained in Cuba following a shootout with the Cuban coast guard. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez is the leader of the 30th of November Revolutionary Movement, which held a \u201cProof of Life of Our Brothers\u201d event in response to the deadly confrontation between an alleged counter-revolutionary group that departed from the Florida Keys and the Cuban coast guard on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n

In Cuba\u2019s account of the incident, Cuban officials came across 10 men on a boat packed with weapons, resulting in a shootout at sea.<\/p>\n

\"Ana Ana Segui holds an photograph of her husband Conrado Galindo Sariol, who was on the boat carrying 10 men that was involved in a shootout with Cuban coast guard. The photo indicates that her husband is hospitalized because of the incident. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Pavel Alling Pe\u00f1a, Michael Ortega Casanova, Ledi\u00e1n Padr\u00f3n Guevara, H\u00e9ctor Duani Cruz Correa and Roberto \u00c1lvarez \u00c1vila died as a result of their injuries<\/a>, Cuban officials said. Amijail S\u00e1nchez Gonz\u00e1lez, Leonardo Enrique Cruz G\u00f3mez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, Jos\u00e9 Manuel Rodr\u00edguez Castell\u00f3 and Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara were detained and charged with terrorism.<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez, who is a fierce opponent of the Cuban government, was later accused by Cuban officials as being the mastermind behind the planned terrorist attack. On Sunday, Fern\u00e1ndez said the regime has always accused her of terrorism, but \u201cthat doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s what I am,\u201d and the same goes for the 10 involved men, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t terrorists. What they are is extraordinary, good men, fathers,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone who confronts the regimen, they accuse them of being terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Cuba displays seized weapons, releases new details in alleged assault from Florida<\/a><\/p>\n

Members of the 30th of November Movement and others are making arrangements to head to Washington, D.C., meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and demonstrate at the White House, Fern\u00e1ndez said at Sunday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

\u201c…[W]e will spend an entire day at the White House expressing our discontent, accusing the regime, because they accuse and accuse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Maricela Maricela Pompa reacts during a Proof of Life of Our Brothers ceremony at the Bay of Pigs Monument in the Little Havana area of Miami, Florida, on Sunday, March 8, 2026. Cuban dissident groups held a press conference to demand repatriation of the bodies of the men killed in the shootout with the Cuban Coast Guard on Sunday, March 8, 2026. They also demanded that the U.S. citizens involved in the incident be allowed to speak to U.S. diplomatic employees. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez has been an activist against the Castro regime for decades. In January 2002, she arrived in exile at Miami International Airport after being imprisoned for dissident activities, according to the Miami Herald archives. Her husband, Rafael Ibarra Roque, was arrested for alleged sabotage in 1994 and sentenced to 20 years in Cuban prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I haven\u2019t come here to forget everything I left behind,\u201d she said in 2002. \u201cWhat I\u2019m going to do, I\u2019ll keep to myself, but I will continue working for a future of democracy and freedom within Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sergio Rodr\u00edguez, a member of the 30th of November, said Sunday the movement strongly rejected false accusations made by Cuban officials against Fern\u00e1ndez and the country\u2019s handling of the 10 men.<\/p>\n

\"Maritza Maritza Lugo Fern\u00e1ndez speaks to supporters during a Proof of Life of Our Brothers ceremony at the Bay of Pigs Monument. Cuban dissident groups held a press conference to demand repatriation of the bodies of the men killed in the shootout with the Cuban Coast Guard on Sunday, March 8, 2026. They also demanded that the U.S. citizens involved in the incident be allowed to speak to U.S. diplomatic employees. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez called for military and humanitarian intervention of the \u201cmonstrous totalitarian Castro-communist dictatorship that has destroyed\u201d Cuba and poses imminent danger to the United States. The movement also demands Cuba allow United States embassy personnel to visit prisoners who are American citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this context, we demand that the Communist Party of Cuba and the narcos of the dictatorship hand over the bodies of the murdered brothers to their families so that they may receive the proper honors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ana Segu\u00ed, the wife of Galindo Sariol, said during the rally her husband had a desire to fight for what he believed was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is not a terrorist; he was a man who, like many in his time, took a stand in the midst of difficult moments in history,\u201d Segu\u00ed said. \u201cThose of us who knew him know of his heart, of the values he defended. His story should not be told with hatred or labels, but with respect and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maritza Lugo Fern\u00e1ndez speaks during the Proof of Life of Our Brothers ceremony at the Bay of Pigs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[86382,82111,2472,15403,86381,123,125,124],"class_list":["post-183500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-30th-of-november-revolutionary-movement","tag-cuban-exile","tag-florida-keys","tag-little-havana","tag-maritza-lugo-fernandez","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}