Washington D.C., October 16, 2025 – That was one of the statements made by José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), after arriving in Miami, United States, together with his wife, the doctor and activist Nelva Ortega, and three of his children, after being forced into exile. Ferrer’s departure was officially announced by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, which specified that his transfer, along with his family, was the result of a “formal request” from the U.S. government and the “express acceptance” of the Cuban activist. 

The human rights defender, who regained his freedom on Monday, October 13, said he had “mixed emotions” as he celebrated his reunion with part of his family, but lamented the situation of dozens of activists who remain imprisoned in Cuba. “It is a very difficult and sad moment because there are other brothers and sisters in Cuba who are surviving in terrible conditions in the worst prisons in the Western Hemisphere: Félix Navarro, Saylí Navarro, Sissi Abascal, Luis Manuel Otero, Maykel Castillo, Lisandra Góngora; there are many throughout the country,” he said.

Ferrer, 55, is one of Cuba’s most renowned activists. He was one of the 75 prisoners of conscience convicted during the Black Spring of 2003 and, since then, has been subjected to repeated arrests, torture, and arbitrary judicial proceedings. He participated in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021, after which he was arbitrarily detained and, in January of this year, released on parole. However, on April 29, 2025, he was again imprisoned in Mar Verde prison, where he reported beatings, torture, and threats against his family.

In a letter written from that prison and released on October 3, Ferrer warned that he was at the limit of what he could endure and that he was willing to accept forced exile to protect his life and that of his family. At Race and Equality, we have repeatedly denounced the serious violations of his human rights and the inhumane conditions of his imprisonment to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as his legal representatives, reason why he is the beneficiary of protective measures.

We celebrate that José Daniel Ferrer and his family are safe today, but we condemn that his freedom was dependent upon forced exile, a practice that violates fundamental rights and that the Cuban state has used to silence critical voices. This same strategy was recently imposed on activist Aymara Nieto, a member of the Ladies in White, who was released in August 2025 on the condition that she leave the island. At Race and Equality, we reiterate our commitment to defending those persecuted for political reasons in Cuba and call on the international community to demand an end to repression, arbitrary imprisonment, and the forced exile of Cuban dissidents.