MADRID, Spain.- The leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), Jose Daniel Ferrerturned 54 last Monday, July 29, in the maximum security Mar Verde prison, without being able to see his family. His wife, Nelva Ismaray Ortega Tamayo, has not had visual contact with him since April and claims that the Cuban regime refuses to allow family visits, so she demands proof of life for her husband.
In an audio shared to CiberCubaOrtega Tamayo recounted how on Monday she went to the Mar Verde prison with her children, Fátima Victoria and Daniel José, hoping to congratulate Ferrer on his birthday. “Unfortunately, once again that right was denied,” she said. In April, the authorities only allowed a two-minute meeting and, since then, no one has been able to see Ferrer.
Ortega Tamayo denounced that on Monday the guards only accepted the lunch and the sweet that they brought for Ferrer. “The murderous Castro-Canel-communist dictatorship continues to insist, through the penitentiary authorities and the so-called State Security“to make my husband disappear, to continue killing him slowly and burying him alive,” said Ortega Tamayo.
Since August 2021, Ferrer has been confined in a punishment cell, isolated from other prisoners, under inhumane conditions and being the victim of mistreatment, violence and physical and psychological torture, his wife alleges. In prison, the quality of food is poor, the water is not drinkable and he does not receive the necessary medical care, despite his health problems. health.
Ortega Tamayo also revealed that for a year and four months Ferrer has not been allowed to make a phone call or see his children. “The last time our little Daniel José saw him was on June 22, 2023, after three months of forced disappearance,” he explained, referring to the complaints of Laura Jusino, a Cuban emigrant with contacts in the prison who claimed that Ferrer was in the hands of “hitmen” and that his whereabouts were a “state secret.”
“Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel are ultimately responsible for the physical and psychological integrity of José Daniel Ferrer,” declared Nelva Ortega, highlighting the regime’s fear of a man who is “innocent, a great patriot, son, father, brother, husband, friend, brave, determined and selfless leader.” And she explains the pain she feels every time her son is denied the opportunity to see his father.
In the message, Ortega Tamayo sends him encouragement and strength, hoping that his health improves. “We will continue to demand not only proof of life but also the restoration of his prison and human rights, and above all, his immediate and unconditional freedom,” he says. Not without first asking not only for Ferrer’s freedom, but also for that of all Cuban political prisoners.
José Daniel Ferrer was arrested on July 11, 2021 (11J), in Santiago de Cuba, while he was trying to join one of the massive protests that took place that day. Since he was imprisoned, he has been kept in a punishment cell “under inhumane conditionscruel and degrading, being a victim of abuse and physical and psychological violence.”
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