Florida poet ID'd among dead in Cuba shootout fantasized about counter-revolution

Before his homeland of Cuba accused him of being a terrorist hellbent on toppling the island’s government, Pavel Alling Peña was a writer.

For years, the 45-year-old man shared the poems he wrote and the elaborate videos he made reciting them with his Facebook friends.

“Before you, the sun was a parabola of light, a star that cast a unique shadow, my shadow like a symbol of loneliness. Before you, the sea was a dark lake, but you arrived with a crimson smile and with moonlit watercolors, you drew your reflection on its waves,” he recites in a 2019 poem for Valentine’s Day. He posted love notes, and excerpts of his 2019 zombie fiction about a virus that threatens humankind, a novel he described as a critique of man’s treatment of nature that he was deeply proud of writing.

But in the months before the Cuban government said he’d been killed aboard a Florida-registered vessel packed with heavily armed counter-revolutionaries headed to the island, his literary musings gave way to at-times fantastical social media posts singularly focused on Cuba’s liberation.

“Woe to any soldier who does not lay down his weapons, and worse still, fires on the people, because the terror unleashed will be sublime in its most brutal expression. Cuba will be free soon,” he wrote on Jan. 30

Alling Peña’s prolific social media posting offers insight into what may have driven him to join nine other men in a guerrilla group that, according to the Cuban government, engaged in an open-water firefight on Wednesday with a state vessel.

He circulated AI-Generated videos envisioning Cubans protesting the regime and paramilitary groups violently rising up against the island’s government. A clip from Dec. 23 shows a flotilla of yachts and boats hoisting Cuban flags as they leave Miami behind, along with the message Vamos exili0. “Let’s go, exiles!”

Other scenes depict heavily-armed, camouflaged men shooting at Cuban police officers abusing protesters and capturing leader Miguel Diaz-Canel in a complex operation preventing a plane from taking off; and founding father José Martí walking through a dilapidated Havana, urging Cuba to rise up.

“Our mother is Cuba. We will fight united for our freedom. It’s the time of arms and we will continue until the end,” sang a woman’s voice in a Dec. 2 video.

Four killed and six injured, says Cuba

United States officials have not yet corroborated Cuba’s version of events, with State Department Secretary Marco Rubio emphasizing the U.S. must carry out its own fact-finding mission. On Thursday, the State Department said there was at least one U.S. citizen dead and another injured, as well as potential permanent residents on the boat.

Along with Alling, the three other men Havana said died in the botched invasion attempt were Michael Ortega Casanova, Ledián Padrón Guevara and Hector Duani Cruz Correa. Officials also identified Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González, and Roberto Álvarez Ávila as having been detained in the incident.

Alling Peña’s Facebook shows him as being friends with individuals named “Amijail Sánchez” and “Roberto Alvarez,” both of Miami, Florida.

In 2022, Alling Peña shared the day of his U.S. citizenship interview, which he called “a very special day,” along with a smiling photo of what appears to be the passing results of his naturalization interview.

“It’s an honor to be a citizen of this great country,” he wrote. “I am more than happy and excited about this great achievement.”

A relative of Alling Peña told a Miami Herald reporter that his family had not heard from him in days. A close friend who described him as an “extraordinary person” said his wife believed him to be dead. Public records have Alling Peña’s address listed in Clearwater. Voter rolls list him as an active voter registered to the Republican Party in Pinellas County. His Facebook profile says he is from Camaguey, a province in central Cuba

An afternoon of painting at home

In previous years, Alling Peña had been a prolific poster, sharing details of his daily life. He wished his mother a happy Mother’s Day more than once, calling her the most special person in the world.

He posted photos celebrating Independence Day with fireworks and a pool day with friends, as well as of the “new family member,” a black, tan, and white puppy called Nano. In 2018, he shared “an afternoon of painting at home” with a canvas of a couple under an umbrella walking in the rain through a field of blossoming trees.

“We know that my thing is literature, but painting is also a beautiful creation. Before I dreamed of being a writer, I painted every day.”

He also shared videos and photos of trips to New York, including a selfie with Salvador Dali’s famous melting clocks and Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art; of greenery, status, and fountains in Las Vegas, where he said he was searching where to film his poem “Solitude;” of Chicago’s Bean and its Museum of Natural History.

Before coming to Florida, he appears to have spent time in Nevada, posting in 2017 that he was looking for work there. “I don’t have papers. The hours or place doesn’t matter,” he wrote on a local Facebook group in Las Vegas. He announced his move to Tampa in February 2021.

In his last video, posted Feb. 16, the poet shared a patriotic rallying cry.

“Cuba has never been truly free, and we are finally on the verge of achieving it through our own efforts. And until proven otherwise, I will continue to proclaim: God, Fatherland, Life, Liberty, and long live a free, reborn, and independent Cuba!,” he exclaimed.