Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A leading Cuban dissident and activist has been released from prison as part of a broader prisoner release deal between the Cuban government and the US.
Jose Daniel Ferrer spent more than three years in prison following anti-government protests across the communist-run island in 2021.
Under the agreement brokered by the Catholic Church, US President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the United States’ list of sponsors of terrorism a few days before the end of his term.
In exchange, Cuba said it would release 553 people, many of whom had been arrested during anti-government protests.
the island the first of hundreds of prisoners began to be released on Wednesday, freeing around 20 people, according to local NGOs.
Ferrer is one of the most popular names among Cuban dissidents and pro-democracy activists. The 54-year-old leader of the National Union of Cuba (Unpacu), an opposition group in the country, was jailed and charged with public disorder after the 2021 protests.
“I am at home, in good health, but with the courage to continue fighting for the freedom of Cuba,” Ferrer told Reuters in a phone interview.
Many of the prisoners released this week were arrested in conjunction with the 2021 protests, in which citizens increasingly called on the Cuban government to ease widespread food shortages and lower spiraling prices.
Biden took office just days before President-elect Donald Trump to remove Cuba from the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s choice for Secretary of State, has been critical of the decision to ease sanctions on Cuba, suggesting that it may be reversed.
During the Senate nominations hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said referring to some of the sanctions against Cuba that the Biden administration lifted on Tuesday, “the new administration is not bound by that decision.”
Earlier, Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Fox News that “nothing (the Biden administration) is doing right now, we can take it back, and nobody should have any illusions in terms of a change in Cuba policy.”
The Cuban government says the island’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism is completely unfair and aimed at damaging its economy by making it impossible for Cuba to access international bank loans.
