Havana/The opposition José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), received this Monday in Washington DC the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedoma recognition that the Victims of Communism Foundation had granted him in 2020, when he remained imprisoned on the Island.
“The last few years, almost entirely, were spent in a dark communist prison in the east of my country. They honored me at that time, they honored the Cuban political prisoners and all the victims of communism in Cuba,” Ferrer said when speaking during the ceremony.
In his speech, evoked José Martíwhom he defined as “an apostle of our independence and a man of profound ideas who, even before the Bolshevik revolution, warned about the dangers of communism.” In this regard, he added that Martí, “in an article he wrote analyzing a treatise by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer, agreed with him that, with such socialism, to which everything seemed to tend in England, misery and servitude would be palpable and great.”
His “prophetic words came true with the triumph of the communists in the Soviet Union, in Russia and the other Soviet republics in the nations of Eastern Europe, and we have also seen it in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba and now with the neo-communists of Venezuela and Nicaragua,” he added.
“His name will be remembered and revered for a long time in the history of his country”
Present at the event, held at the Memorial Museum of the Victims of Communism, were the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kestutis Budrys, and the Undersecretary of State of the United States, Christopher Landauwho recognized “the extraordinary bravery of José Daniel. His name will be remembered and venerated for a long time in the history of his country.”
The Lithuanian foreign minister also highlighted Ferrer’s past and his “unbreakable resistance to the Cuban dictatorship.” He added that the opponent “has stood firm against the Cuban communist regime despite years of oppression,” and that his country “stands in solidarity with the Cuban people in their fight for democracy, prosperity and human rights.”
The Victims of Communism Foundation indicated through
The award is one of the emblematic recognitions granted by the Victims of Communism Foundation and, according to the institutional description, it is given to those who have shown “a lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy and opposition to communism and all forms of tyranny.”
The award is given to those who have shown “a lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy and opposition to communism and all forms of tyranny.”
This award is added to the one he received at the end of October, when he obtained the Carlos Alberto Montaner Award 2025, awarded by the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy (IID), which is given to people who stand out for their defense of freedom, democracy and human rights in Latin America.
The award has its roots in 2010, when it began to be awarded under the name Francisco de Miranda. However, in 2023 it was renamed to honor the Cuban intellectual who presided over the IID and who died that year. Montaner represented a tradition of liberal criticism, exiled, opposed to the official discourse of the Cuban regime.
Ferrer, who arrived in Miami last October 13 on a forced exile Together with his family, he was part of the group of 75 dissidents imprisoned during the Black Spring of 2003, with a sentence of 25 years in prison. In 2011 he was released from prison and chose to stay in Cuba to continue his work in the internal opposition. Over time, his leadership in Unpacu made him one of the most visible symbols of citizens organized for peaceful changes.
The opponent was imprisoned again in 2021, when he tried to participate in the massive anti-government marches of July 11. Sentenced to a four-year prison sentence, he was released in January 2025 as part of the group of more than 500 people who left Cuban prisons with parole as a result of what the Government called a “gesture” with the then Pope Francis, who had declared this year as a jubilee, although in reality it was an agreement with Joe Biden’s management in the United States, triangulated by the Vatican, in which Washington committed, in exchange, to remove Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Shortly after, Donald Trump assumed the presidency and included the Havana regime again on the list on the same day of the inauguration. In April, after the death of Pope Francis, Ferrer returned to prison due to a decision by the Supreme Court, which considered that he had violated the terms of his parole.
“I hold State Security responsible for my health, for what may happen to me”
The harassment and repression experienced by opponents on the Island covers almost any aspect of their lives, as the Lady in White and Cuban activist has experienced firsthand. Leticia Ramos Herreríawho this Monday reported on social media that they prevented him from leaving the country when he was trying to travel to the United States to receive specialized medical care.
“I was trying to make a direct connection, but it is impossible because of the connection. I am at the airport (Varadero) heading to the United States to attend to my health, but a lieutenant colonel stopped me and took me to a small room,” he said.
Ramos Herrería explained that she had already gone through the screening process to board her flight when she was intercepted by officers, who detained her for several hours before telling her that she would not be able to leave the country.
“I hold State Security responsible for my health, for what may happen to me, because I am at the expense of heart surgery,” he recriminated.
The activist recalled that she was regulated for nine years, which prevented her from traveling outside of Cuba for political reasons, and accused that the regime continues to use this type of measures as a form of retaliation and punishment for dissent.
