Havana/The opposition and political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), declared a hunger strike this Thursday after the authorities in the Santiago prison of Mar Verde denied him access to the food and water he his family provided him.
Ana Belkis Ferrer, sister of the activist, reported this Thursday night in X that Nelva Ortega, wife of the political prisoner, and her two children, went on a family visit to the prison “after 21 months of refusal; However, it was another moment of martyrdom, anguish and suffering.”
They brought a bag with food and water to the meeting, but they did not allow him entry. The authorities justified the measure by alleging that José Daniel Ferrer, being confined in a detachment with common inmates, “has to comply with the same regulations.” This ruling “forced” him to go on strike, said his sister.
The authorities justified the measure by alleging that José Daniel Ferrer, being confined in a detachment with common inmates
Food brought by his family is often the only thing Ferrer has at his disposal to eat in prison. In 2022, the activist “began to notice that he was being given certain substances in the scarce and poorly prepared food in the prison,” so he decided to reject it and “survive” with the food his family sent him once a month, when he needed it. the jailers allowed.
In her message, Ferrer’s sister recalled the beating her brother recently received, after which he was joined in the hospital of the Boniato prison in Santiago. “He was handcuffed and brutally beaten by six hitmen armed with sharp objects, who gave him three wounds from which he was bleeding for two consecutive days,” he said.
This aggression generated various local and international reactions, including that of Washington. Brian Nicholsin charge of Latin America at the State Department, expressed his indignation “upon hearing reports that José Daniel Ferrer was beaten in prison and transferred to another facility.” In a message on
In the final part of her message, the activist’s sister reported that, recently, a State Security agent went to Mar Verde to threaten Ferrer “with imprisoning her daughter Fátima Victoria Ferrer Cantillo, 20 years old, and taking away her to little Daniel José, only six years old.”
On July 11, 2021, Ferrer was arrested along with his son for participating in the massive popular protests against the regime. Since then, he has remained in Mar Verde, where he has been subject to “mistreatment and violations of the UN recommendations on the treatment of prisoners.”
From March 2023 until this Thursday, he had not received any conjugal visit
In December 2022 he began a hunger strike in prison, and from March 2023 until this Thursday he had not received any conjugal visits.
On the other hand, this Friday Cubalex reported that the opponent Gustavo Colás Castillo was arbitrarily detained in the town of Amancio Rodríguez, in Las Tunas, last Wednesday. Until now, the NGO noted, his whereabouts are unknown.
The arrest occurred one and a half kilometers from his home, where he was taken in handcuffs. There, State Security agents carried out a search, according to his wife, at Cuba DNA. Cubalex added that, during the raid, they confiscated his mobile phone and a book. They also suggested that his wife look for a lawyer, since Colás was accused of “contempt” and “instigation to commit a crime.”
The cause of the arrest is related to the publications and comments that the opponent has made on social networks against the Government, according to Ramón Colás, his brother.
Another arrest recorded this Wednesday was that of activist Agustín López Canino, who every year calls for a protest on the Havana boardwalk for Human Rights Day – which is celebrated every December 10 –. Last year, López Canino was also arrested within the framework of the same commemoration.
