“The departure, bound for the United States, follows a formal request from that country’s government and the express acceptance of Ferrer García,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
14ymedio, Madrid, October 13, 2025 — The opposition leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), José Daniel Ferrer, arrived in the United States on Monday after being released from prison. “Today, José Daniel Ferrer and his family have just boarded a plane in Santiago de Cuba,” reported his brother, José Enrique Ferrer, at an event held in Miami. He also said that the opposition leader and his family would arrive at that city’s airport at 12:45 p.m., accompanied by two U.S. State Department officials.
Luis Enrique Ferrer explained that both officials had been in Santiago de Cuba since last week, sent by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “They said they wouldn’t return until they came on the same flight as José Daniel and his family,” the activist detailed. As can be seen in the images shared by those close to him, with the opposition leader accompanied by his current wife, Nelva Ortega Tamayo, their young son, Daniel José, his ex-wife Yusmila Reyna and her daughter with Ferrer, Ana Laura Ferrer, and another daughter of the UNPACU leader, Fátima Victoria (also the daughter of Belkis Cantillo).
At the Miami airport, not only Luis Enrique Ferrer was waiting for them, but also other family members, dozens of media outlets, and numerous Cuban supporters in the US. The UNPACU leader was also greeted by Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, and by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. However, “for security reasons,” the opposition leader did not leave through the previously announced gate, but instead through another, non-public area, his brother announced.
Upon his arrival, U.S. authorities awarded him the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom for his fight for human rights and democracy on the island.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ferrer “is leaving the country” and is doing so “at the request of the U.S. government.”
While the plane was still in flight, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Ferrer “is leaving the country” and is doing so “at the request of the U.S. government.”
“The departure, to the United States, follows a formal request from the government of that country and the express acceptance of Ferrer García, within the framework of the formalities of application and compliance with the law that exist between the two countries,” the text reads. It continues: “This procedure is based on the Prosecutor’s Office’s exhaustive evaluation of Ferrer García’s legal situation; compliance with due process; consideration of the specific circumstances of the case; and the application of the powers granted to institutions by law.”
Without mentioning the harassment by State Security to which he was subjected or the torture and ill-treatment in prison, they present their particular version of the events: “In January 2025, Ferrer García was granted early release while serving a sentence of 4 years and 6 months of imprisonment. Due to repeated violations of the obligations and requirements established by the court, as set forth in the Criminal Enforcement Law and its Regulations, the benefit was revoked in April of this year.”
The opposition leader was reportedly placed under provisional detention for “committing a new crime.” “Once the investigation was concluded, this body, in accordance with its legal powers, decided to modify the provisional detention measure,” they explain.
In any case, his release fulfills the wish he had expressed in a handwritten letter published by his family on October 3. The letter was sent from Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba, where he had been since his parole was revoked on April 29, after he had been released for three months.
“This decision was taken for the safety of my family and because of the frustration that I felt when I came out of prison to confirm the disunity, sectarianism and lack of effectiveness of the opposition inside and outside Cuba in the struggle for freedom and the well-being of our homeland,” he said in the letter sent from 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 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 renounce the nonviolent struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights, and the well-being of my homeland.”
“All with the intention of forcing me to leave my country or renounce the non-violent struggle for freedom, democracy, human rights and the welfare of my homeland.”
In the past few months in prison, “the brutality of the dictatorship against me has exceeded all limits,” he said, listing “beatings, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions,” as well as “the theft of my food and toiletries” and threats against his wife, Nelva Ortega, and their children. “All with the intention of forcing me to leave my homeland,” he says. “In the face of constant demonstrations by the political police to force me out of Cuba, I ended up agreeing to go into exile.”
However, he said, “since the procedures to achieve this end began, as always happens, the agents of the regime have been playing dirty: they continue with the plan of harassment, threats, humiliations, thefts and extreme conditions.” As an example, he mentions the pressure they exerted to have his marriage with Nelva take place on the “birthday of the deceased dictator,” August 13, and the “videos and recordings” that Ferrer claims they took “with the intention of producing publications that call into question our commitment to the struggle for freedom in Cuba.”
He also stated that they had wanted to compel him to make statements and to ask the Catholic Church to mediate between Havana and Washington, a dialogue he defined as “leading to the shameful negotiation of other times: release of political prisoners in exchange for lifting sanctions and other gifts to the dictatorship.”
The opponent clarified: “If my life and that of my family depends on me asking 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 will only leave Cuba with my dignity, honor and my head held high and not for long.”
On the same day, Cuban-American congressman Mario Díaz-Balart spoke out on X about the opponent’s decision, calling him a “hero” and saying, “After years of imprisonment, beatings, physical and psychological torture and persecution by the murderous regime in Cuba simply for demanding freedom, he is being forced into exile. He deserves a welcome worthy of a hero and will receive it.” However, from the moment the letter was published, all was uncertainty.
Last Monday, Ferrer’s wife, Nelva Ortega, was arrested for several hours after demanding explanations for being denied the week’s conjugal visit. Ana Belkis Ferrer, sister of the opponent, said that Ortega went to prison to visit her husband, but Captain Liván Laguart Riquelme refused entry “without a clear reason. At 12:30, with Ferrer’s wife standing in front of the entrance to protest the decision, four agents of the Ministry of the Interior detained her, saying that she should accompany them to the Research and Operations Centre in Versailles so that someone could explain why she was not allowed to visit.”
“If another video or post came out everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and the family, and she would be imprisoned”
“After driving her there, they kept her for almost half an hour inside the patrol car under the sun. They then drove her to an office where the aforementioned repressors were located: Major Raúl, another filming with a camera and one who initiated the threats. According to them, this was her 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. That if another video or publication came out everything would go backwards in terms of the exit process, both for him and the family, and she would be imprisoned,” said Ferrer’s sister, who added that her sister-in-law returned home around 2:00 pm.
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 of Díaz-Canel- two weeks after he was imprisoned.
Ferrer was violently removed from his home, also the headquarters of UNPACU, in Altamira, Santiago de Cuba, after three months of constant harassment. According to his family, the State Security agents “completely ransacked” the house and took him away, along with Nelva Ortega and their young son, Daniel José, although these last two were released hours later.
On the same day, April 29, Félix Navarro was also arrested during a visit with his wife, the Lady in White Sonia Álvarez, to the prison where their daughter Sayli is being 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.
The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), of which Ferrer is president, celebrated the news of the opposition figure’s exile. “His release and departure constitute a profoundly human relief, after having witnessed the intense pressure and harassment he and his family have suffered since he made public his intention to leave the island,” the organization said in a statement.
“We know that his mind remains clear and that his firm decision to continue fighting for his country from another perspective, until the day he can return, will be crucial,” they continue. They conclude, stating: “With his powerful and scarred voice, José Daniel Ferrer will continue to be a moral and political figurehead for all Cubans committed to building a free, just, and democratic Cuba.”
Amnesty International also welcomed the news, referring to his departure as a “forced exile.” “His situation is not an isolated incident,” the NGO asserted in a tweet. “It is part of the Cuban government’s systematic strategy of silencing dissenters, imprisoning them under extreme circumstances, and expelling them for seeking justice and defending human rights.”
In the same message, they make an “urgent call” to the regime’s authorities to “end the repression,” “immediately and unconditionally release all those who remain unjustly imprisoned in Cuba,” and “respect the right to freedom of expression and the defense of human rights.”
The departure of the UNPACU leader comes on the same day as the arrival in Madrid of another opposition member and prisoner of conscience, Luis Robles, “the young man with the placard.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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