LEESBURG, Fla. — Upon hearing the news of Fidel Castro’s death, Orestes Lorenzo believes Cuba has a long way to go to move on from the dictator’s rule.
“Many people see this as an end of an era. I don't think so,” he said.
Standing in an airport hangar nearly 26 years since he defected from Cuba, Lorenzo—a Cuban Air Force major—recounts how he escaped to the United States by flying his own fighter jet to Key West.
“When you reach that level when death is no worse than what you're living through, then you leave and that's what happened,” he said.
That would not be Lorenzo’s only flight between Cuba and the US mainland.
In order to rescue his wife and kids off the island, he flew a small plane undercover back to the island and picked up his family and flew back.
Lorenzo said he thought he’d want to celebrate this day, but says he can’t. He’s waiting for liberation and that hasn’t happened yet.
“When Cubans are free, really free to express themselves, to have opinions, to vote, to make decisions of their life to choose their future, that’s when I’ll celebrate,” he said.