The Cuban opponent José Daniel Ferrer said this Monday in Miami who hopes to soon return to Cuba, where he arrived after being released hours earlier by the island’s authorities.
The leader of the opposition Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), thanked President Donald Trump for the efforts for his release and arrival in the United States with his family, and asked the current Republican Government for “the greatest possible support” to end the “tyranny in Cuba.”
“My request to the Administration is that we need the greatest possible support so that before the end of this Administration, in three years and months, we no longer have tyranny in Cuba,” he told the press in Miami. according to review the agency EFE.
Ferrer, who was serving prison in Santiago de Cuba, offered these statements during a press conference at the headquarters of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) shortly after his arrival in the United States.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that the opponent was released after a “formal request” from Washington to receive him after an “exhaustive evaluation” by the island’s Prosecutor’s Office.
According to EFEFerrer thanked the efforts of the Trump Administration, which he described as “determining” in the agreement that allowed his release from prison and subsequent arrival in the United States.
Furthermore, he “profoundly” thanked Trump for “his firmness and support for the cause of freedom of the Cuban people,” and asserted that “thanks to his policy of putting pressure on the regime and the efforts made since then” he and his family were able to reach Miami.
Cuban opponent José Daniel Ferrer leaves Cuba for the United States
Return “as soon as possible”
Ferrer said that he never thought about leaving Cuba and having “mixed emotions” about his arrival in the United States, where he intends to continue contributing to the “search for greater unity and effectiveness” of the opponents of the Cuban Government.
In this regard, he assured that he hopes to return “as soon as possible” to the island and stressed his desire to “put an end to tyranny before this Administration ends” in the United States.
The opponent considered that there are conditions for these to be the “last times of the regime” if “once and for all, we Cubans inside and outside align ourselves” and asked for collaboration not only from the US Government but also from the international community and “the actors of the free world, of the democratic world.”
He had previously considered that the island’s authorities had been able to remain in power due to the “lukewarmness” and “complicity” of other governments, especially those of Latin America and the European Union, as well as previous US Administrations.
“It is impossible for us alone to democratize Cuba with so many friends and allies that the tyranny has,” he stated, as can be seen in videos of his statements to the press.
The Unpacu leader made reference to the heroes of the island’s independence and their work in exile, and said that “the Mambises needed support from abroad and even American intervention,” although he denied that he advocated intervention in Washington.
However, he said that “at the given moment, if (the Cuban rulers) continue with their crimes and abuses, obviously the time will come for humanitarian intervention.”
Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, who arrived in the United States as an exile, thanks President Donald Trump for his management and affirms that the conditions are in place to end the “tyranny in Cuba.”https://t.co/BwyJDo1aiB
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) October 13, 2025
“The national catastrophe” in Cuba
The now exiled man described the current situation on the island as “a national catastrophe.” “It is a terrible situation of extreme injustice and arbitrariness of all kinds, of famine,” he described, while mentioning “the total collapse” that the population on the island is facing.
“There is barely any electricity, medical services are barely functioning, transportation is barely functioning, homes are collapsing,” he denounced, quoted by EFE.
In addition, he classified Cuban prisons as “hell” and recalled other opponents who are imprisoned and “survive in terrible conditions,” such as Félix Navarro, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Sissi Abascal.
Likewise, he congratulated the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and attributed the existence of “a disgraceful dictatorship” in Venezuela to the influence and support of “a dictatorship like that of Cuba.”
Ferrer, 55 years old and one of the 75 opponents imprisoned during the so-called Black Spring of 2003, has spent more than half of the last 20 years in prison, he says. EFE.
In July 2021 he was arrested as a result of the massive anti-government protests on the island and at the beginning of the year he was released as part of an agreement between Havana and Washington mediated by the Vatican. However, his release was revoked three months later.
The Unpacu leader and his entourage have denounced beatings and mistreatment suffered in prison, while Ferrer himself said that he decided to leave Cuba “in the face of constant demonstrations by the political police” and “for the safety” of his family.
The Cuban Government, which denies the existence of political prisoners and mistreatment in the country’s prisons, had not yet commented on Ferrer’s statements upon his arrival in Miami.
