Miami/Madrid/The opposition José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), arrives in the United States this Monday. “Today José Daniel Ferrer and his family just boarded a plane in Santiago de Cuba,” reported his brother, Luis Enrique Ferrer. at an event held in Miami. Right there, he also said that the opponent and his family would arrive at 12:45 at the Miami airport accompanied by two officials from the US State Department.
José Enrique Ferrer explained that both officials had been in Santiago de Cuba since the week, sent by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. “They said that until they came on the same flight with José Daniel and his family they would not come back,” said the activist.
The sister of both, Ana Belkis Ferreralso broke the news. “From Mar Verde prison to the Santiago de Cuba airport. My brave brother is banished,” the activist wrote. “Our Lord accompany you on the flight to freedom with the purpose of continuing the fight until we achieve the well-deserved freedom of all our political prisoners and our beloved land.”
Thus the wish that he had expressed in a handwritten letter made public by his family on October 3 becomes effective. The letter was sent from the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, where he had been since his parole was revoked on April 29, after three months of release from prison.
“I made this decision for the safety of my family and for the frustration that came from confirming upon leaving prison the disunity, sectarianism and lack of effectiveness of the opposition inside and outside Cuba, in the fight for the freedom and well-being of our homeland,” said in the lettersent from the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, where he had been since his parole was revoked, referring to his months of release.
“For years I have been subjected to brutal beatings, torture, humiliation, threats of even death and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by henchmen and other instruments of the worst dictatorship the American continent has ever known,” the text began. “All with the intention of forcing me to leave my country or to renounce the non-violent struggle in favor of freedom, democracy, and human rights and the well-being of my country.”
“All with the intention of forcing me to leave my country or to renounce the non-violent struggle in favor of freedom, democracy, and human rights and the well-being of my country”
In recent months in prison, “the cruelty of the dictatorship against me has exceeded all limits” and lists “beatings, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions”, in addition to “theft of my food and hygiene products” and threats against his wife, Nelva Ortega, and his children. “All with the intention of forcing me to leave my homeland,” he says. “Given the constant protests by the political police asking me to leave Cuba, I ended up accepting the exit into exile.”
However, he explained, “since the procedures to achieve this goal began, as always happens, the regime’s agents have been playing very dirty: they continue with the plan of harassment, threats, humiliation, robberies and extreme conditions.” As an example, he gives the pressure they exerted to finalize his marriage with Nelva on “the day of the deceased dictator’s birth,” August 13, and “videos and recordings” that Ferrer asserts that they took “with the intention of making publications that call into question our commitment to the fight for the freedom of Cuba.”
Likewise, he said that they had wanted to force him to make statements and ask the Catholic Church to mediate between Havana and Washington, a dialogue, he defined, “that would lead to the shameful negotiation of other times: release of political prisoners in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and other facilities for the dictatorship.”
The opponent clarified: “If my life and that of my family depends on me asking for such things, I prefer my death in this Nazi-style concentration camp and even the sacrifice of my family.” And he adds, without making it clear whether his departure can take place in the short term: “I only leave Cuba with my dignity and honor held high and not for long.”
That same day, Cuban-American congressman Mario Díaz-Balart spoke in However, from the moment the letter was published, everything was uncertainty.
Last Monday, Ferrer’s wife, Nelva Ortega was arrested for several hours after demanding explanations for denying him the conjugal visit of the week. Ana Belkis Ferrer, the opponent’s sister, said that Ortega went to prison to visit her husband, but Captain Liván Laguart Riquelme refused entry “without a clear reason.” Around 12:30, while Ferrer’s wife was standing at the entrance in protest of the decision, four agents from the Ministry of the Interior detained her, claiming that she had to accompany them to the Versailles Research and Operations Center so that someone could explain to her why she was not allowed the visit.
“If another video or publication came out, everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and for the family, and she would go to prison.”
“After taking her there, they kept her for almost half an hour inside the patrol under the sun. Then they took her to an office where the aforementioned repressors were, Major Raúl, another with a camera filming and another who was the one who started the threats. According to them, it is the last warning for being on social networks publishing against the authorities and institutions of the regime, in addition to the current situation of my brave brother. Yes Another video or publication would appear, everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and for the family, and she would go to prison,” stated Ferrer’s sister, who adds that her sister-in-law returned home around 2 in the afternoon.
On previous occasions, Ferrer had spoken out against leaving the country, as offered by State Security in exchange for not keeping him in prison and under torture. The opponent was informed of the charges against him – propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt for the figure of Díaz-Canel – two weeks after being imprisoned.
Ferrer was violently removed from his home, also the headquarters of Unpacu, in the Altamira district, in Santiago de Cuba, after three months of constant harassment. According to his family, the State Security agents “completely ransacked” the house and took the opponent, along with Nelva Ortega and their young son, Daniel José, although they were released hours later.
That same April 29, Félix Navarro was also arrested, during a visit he made with his wife, the Lady in White Sonia Álvarez, to the prison where his daughter Sayli is held, in Matanzas.
Both opponents were part of the group of prisoners released last January, under an agreement between the regime and the Vatican, and returned to prison eight days after the death of the previous pope, Francis.
