The opposition leader spoke of the deep economic crisis that the country is going through, highlighting how the regime continues to allocate resources to repression.
MIAMI:- In his first public appearance after arriving in exile, the Cuban opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer He offered a press conference this Monday at the headquarters of the Cuban American Foundation in which he told the details of his departure from Cuba, denounced the prison conditions on the island and asked for greater international support for the Cubans.
“The regime’s prisons are hell,” said Ferrer, visibly affected when remembering the beatings and pressures he suffered during his most recent imprisonment. He took advantage of the meeting to pay tribute to the more than a thousand political prisoners who are still detained in Cuba, and mentioned some of them by name: Luis Manuel Ferrer, Félix and Saily Navarro, Lisandra Góngora, among others.
Ferrer also called for reflection, pointing to both Cubans on the island and in exile: “All Cubans, inside and in exile, are to blame for the fact that this regime remains.” He assured that his arrival in the United States does not mean the end of his struggle, but rather a new stage: “My intention is to give my modest contribution to corner the regime.”
The opposition leader spoke of the deep economic crisis that the country is going through, highlighting how the regime continues to allocate resources to repression while millions of Cubans face hunger, scarcity and misery. “Despite the crisis in all areas of the country, the government prioritizes repression,” he denounced.
“When the enemy massacres you, you have the right to self-defense,” Ferrer answered when asked at a press conference if he would consider other ways to confront the Cuban dictatorship and added that much can be done ethically. “My intention is to return as soon as possible to end tyranny.”
For her part, Nelva Ismarais Ortega, Ferrer’s wife, recounted the anguish that the family suffered during the days before the departure because they were not sure if it would happen. Dr. Ortega said through tears that Ferrer has barely been able to be present in her children’s lives and that now they must make up that time.
Cuban opposition figure Rosa María Payá thanked the State Department and all those who ensured that José Daniel and his family left the island. “He is a hero of all Cubans. We have heard about his commitment to the freedom of political prisoners,” said the member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Jose Daniel Ferrerpromoter of Cuba Decide, arrived in Miami this Monday with his family, after accepting the forced exile imposed by the Havana regime as a condition for his release. The prominent opponent was received by Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez.
In a letter released days before from prison, Ferrer explained that he accepted exile to protect his wife and children, while denouncing the “humiliating” conditions and cruel treatment to which he was subjected during his imprisonment.
