Cuban from Miami among victims of boat sunk by Cuban military in Bahia Honda

One of the victims of the deadly crash in which a Cuban government patrol boat purposefully hit a speedboat with several people on board escaping from Cuba was identified as a Miami resident. 

The man was identified as Omar Reyes Valdes, who was also known by the nickname "El Chino."

Relatives of Reyes Valdes say that he was most likely the driver of the boat that left the U.S. and headed to Cuba to pick up more than two dozen immigrants near Bahia Honda.

Reyes Valdes was a native of Pinar del Rio province, born in the town of Las Martinas, Sandino municipality. However, he had been living in Miami.

On October 29, a Cuban Border Guard troop boat violently struck a boat carrying several Cuban immigrants escaping from the island and making their way to the United States. The incident can be classified as one of the latest crimes committed by the state. 

Five adults and one minor were identified as the casualties of the incident. However, the survivors of the incident have not been identified by Cuban authorities, who have not offered condolences for what happened and placed the responsibility on U.S. policy towards Cuba.

The minor’s name was Elisabeth Meizoso. The other victims were identified as Nathali Acosta Lemus, a young woman from Bahía Honda, Aimara Meizoso León, Indira Serrano Cala, and Yerandy García Meizoso, whose body was found kilometers from the scene.

In the afternoon and evening hours of Saturday, dozens of residents of Bahía Honda joined a funeral procession for the deceased. Videos uploaded to social media show how they walked in silence through the streets of the town accompanying the coffins and the relatives of the victims to the Catholic church before heading to the cemetery.

The Cuban regime's official version of the sinking of the boat claims that the vessel, which was carrying 23 passengers, was of U.S. origin and "violated Cuba's territorial sea in a human trafficking operation."

Anonymous testimonies from family members and neighbors of those on the boat claim that the Border Guard Troops unit did not have any valid reason to collide with the boat and cause it to sink.