‘I have mixed emotions’: Man erroneously ID’d by Cuban officials shares concerns over fatal boat shooting

After Cuba’s deputy foreign minister confirmed they misidentified a man as being part of a group involved in a deadly alleged shootout off the country’s coast, that man has come forward to share his fears.

Robert Azcorra Consuegra was not on the vessel officials for the Cuban regime say fired upon a military vessel in an attempt to “infiltrate” the country. According to Cuban officials, 10 people were on that vessel. Four of them were killed while six others were injured in the deadly confrontation.

On Thursday, Consuegra spoke with 7News at Versailles on Southwest Eighth Street in Miami to say he was stunned to learn his name was on that list.

“It scares me because my dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles are there,” Consuegra told 7News in Spanish.

Consuegra has been living in the U.S. since 2016 after claiming political asylum.

He said he has no idea why Cuban officials published his name and that he had no plans to be part of the apparent voyage. He did say the Cuban regime is aware of his past actions opposing the country’s leadership.

“I have a record of activism against the dictatorship from my days in Cuba as well as here in the United States. I think they’ve confused all that history or they’re hiding something, I can’t be sure,” Consuegra said in Spanish.

With all that said, Consuegra did acknowledge he knows many of the other individuals who were identified as being aboard the vessel involved in the incident.

A photo provided by Consuegra shows him standing with two men named by Cuban officials that were involved.

“I have mixed emotions,” Consuegra said of their actions. “They’re friends of mine and I admire what they did.”

Though the Cuban regime claims those on the boat were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who planned to infiltrate the country and commit acts of terrorism, others at Versaille described them as heroes who went to the island with hopes of forming an uprising against the dictatorship.

“They left behind mothers, fathers, children,” said Alberto Riveros, a Cuban-American living in Miami.

“The Castro regime is a killing machine. That’s what they’ve been doing for 67 years,” said another man.

As for Consuegra, he believes it’s important that nobody who was aboard that vessel is described as a terrorist.

“My message is: don’t classify these men as terrorists or something negative. Those guys risked their lives to free Cuba, to support the people. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out and now all this is happening. But don’t categorize them as terrorists. No one here is a terrorist. We’re all Cubans and we all want freedom for Cuba. Everyone fights in their own way,” Consuegra said in Spanish.

Consuegra added that he’s looking forward to the United States’ investigation into the deadly incident. He also plans to continue advocating for Cuba’s freedom.