TAMPA BAY, Fla. — One week after a shoot-out between 10 men on a Florida-registered boat and Cuban authorities north of the island, the families of three Tampa Bay men involved — two dead, one detained — are still looking for answers.

They want to know what happened, whether they can bring their loved ones’ remains home and the condition of the man who was arrested.

“We don’t have any information of any kind,” said Misael Ortega, brother of Michael Ortega Casanova of Tampa, who was killed when the Cuban Coast Guard intercepted the speedboat.

Ortega Casanova and Pavel Alling Peña of Clearwater were among four men killed, according to family members, while Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez of Tampa was detained by Cuban authorities.

Friends and relatives gathered Sunday morning at Casa Cuba in Tampa to honor them and share words of support.

Rolando Pérez, a close friend of Cruz Gómez, said that many Cuban dissidents in the United States adopted a stronger and more radical stance after a series of massive protests in Havana in 2021.

Cruz Gómez was one of them, he said.

Those demonstrations were among the few times in six decades of communist rule on the island that people took to the streets to protest shortages of food and medicine, COVID-19 restrictions and their authoritarian regime. As many as 800 people were indicted and dozens were forced to leave the island, including independent journalists and human rights activists.

“Leordan was active for many years in peaceful opposition as a Jehovah’s Witness, but unfortunately the doors for that opposition have been closing and the men have been forced to take other pathways,” Pérez said. “July 11 was a turning point for him.”

More than 700,000 Cubans have immigrated to the United States in the last 20 years. Cruz Gómez and his family settled in Tampa a decade ago, Pérez said, where he worked as an industrial painter. He is the father of four kids.

Pérez said he spoke many times with his friend about the risks of an armed operation on the island and the strategy of the Cuban regime to label any efforts by the exile community as criminal or terrorist acts. Cuba’s government said the majority of the 10 people on the boat have a known history of criminal and violent activity.

“Leordan was very aware of how dangerous this was,” Pérez said. “But the last time we spoke, which was less than a month ago, we didn’t talk about it, but about work, family and things like that.”

Friends and relatives have tried this week to find out what will happen to Cruz Gómez. However, no one has been able to provide information from Havana or Washington, D.C., Pérez said.

“It’s difficult because over there you can get life in prison or even the death penalty. You never know,” Pérez said.

Cuban leaders have cracked down on any attempt at rebellion, jailing hundreds of dissidents and tightening security across the island. Cuba is holding at least 1,207 political prisoners, according to the Madrid-based human rights group Prisoners Defenders.

“We continue waiting for some type of official information. There is silence on both sides. Everything we know, even if it sounds ironic, is the information that the regime has published,” Pérez said. “We know that he is alive and detained, but we have no idea about his health.”

The uncertainty also affects the family of Alling Peña.

“We knew that he was very aware of what was happening in Cuba, but we never imagined that he was going to take this step,” his brother-in-law Simón Rodríguez said. He remembered Alling Peña writing, recording videos for special events and working for Uber to support his family.

He told the Tampa Bay Times that his family has tried to find out whether Alling Peña’s body will be repatriated to Tampa. Alling Peña became a U.S. citizen in 2022.

“We continue waiting for some information,” Rodríguez said.

Alling Peña left his home one day before the incident in the middle of the night, Rodríguez said. That was the last time they saw him alive. He did not call or send messages through WhatsApp about what he was doing.

“He left with someone because his car was still parked here,” Rodríguez said. “They came to pick him up.”

Michael Ortega’s wife, Ivelisse Alicea Figueroa, said her husband was a beloved person who was always willing to help his community and friends. She also asked for information about what will happen to her husband’s remains.

“He was the love of my life; that is why this is very hard to accept,” Figueroa said.

Their daughter, Daily Ortega, who is eight months pregnant, also asked that her father’s body be returned. He was a truck driver and an American citizen, she said, who lived for more than 20 years in the United States.

“He lived for his family, his home. He was an honorable man,” she said.

Officials with the U.S. State Department did not respond to questions from the Times about whether they are coordinating with Cuba on the repatriation of the remains, or whether they have contacted the families in Tampa or Miami.

There was also no response from the office of James Uthmeier, Florida’s attorney general. Uthmeier ordered prosecutors to work with federal, state and law enforcement partners to start an investigation.

“The Cuban government cannot be trusted, and we will do everything in our power to hold these communists accountable,” he wrote on X.

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