The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, imprisoned at the Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba, has started a hunger strike to protest his unjust imprisonment and the inhumane conditions he faces in prison.
The complaint was made public by her sister, the activist Ana Belkis Ferrer, who also reported that the opposition member was brutally attacked twice by individuals sent by the Cuban regime authorities.
“Ferrer is on a HUNGER STRIKE and has been BRUTALLY BEATEN on two occasions. According to information received tonight, criminals in the service of the dictatorship held in Boniato prison were taken to Mar Verde to beat José Daniel,” wrote Ana Belkis Ferrer on her official X (Twitter) account.
According to the activist, the hunger strike was initiated by Ferrer, who had planned to start it on July 1st, but due to the worsening of prison conditions, he decided to begin his protest immediately.
Among the reasons cited for this extreme action are mistreatment, abuse, hunger, lack of medical attention, the supply of decomposing food, and contaminated water, which has led to illness among the prison population.
Since his most recent arrest on April 29, Ferrer has been subjected to harsh imprisonment conditions. The regime revoked his parole without providing transparent legal justification, which was interpreted by international observers as a political reprisal.
The opposition figure was immediately transferred to Mar Verde prison, one of the toughest in the country, to serve a sentence imposed in 2020 in a process labeled as arbitrary by human rights organizations. In mid-May, the opposition figure told his family that he was being accused of propaganda against the constitutional order and disrespect towards Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Family members and members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the organization led by Ferrer, have raised concerns about the physical and psychological deterioration of the prisoner, and they denounce that he remains in isolation, with no regular access to visits or medical care.
In previous communications, Ana Belkis Ferrer warned that her brother was experiencing "lack of vision, intense pain, and alarming weight loss," a situation that has now been worsened by the reported physical assaults.
These denunciations add to a growing wave of international condemnation. The European Parliament recently called for the immediate release of José Daniel Ferrer and fellow opposition member Félix Navarro.
For its part, the United States government condemned the repression exercised against both activists and held the Cuban regime responsible for their physical integrity.
From exile, human rights organizations have reiterated that the strategy of the Cuban regime is to silence dissent through mechanisms of physical punishment, isolation, and psychological degradation.
Ferrer’s situation has become a symbol of the use of the prison system as a tool to silence opposition voices and civil society activism, as well as an instrument of political repression in Cuba.
"We condemn the criminal acts against José Daniel and hold Raúl Castro, Díaz-Canel, and all their henchmen responsible for what they have done and continue to do," added Ana Belkis Ferrer, who reiterated the call to the international community to increase pressure on the Cuban regime.
In Miami, human rights activists have launched various campaigns to raise awareness about the case. Recently, a billboard was placed demanding the immediate release of Ferrer and all Cuban political prisoners, in an effort to keep attention on the repression in the island alive.
Ferrer, a former prisoner of the Black Spring of 2003 and one of the most recognized faces of the Cuban opposition, has been the victim of multiple arrests and beatings throughout his political activism. His case represents one of the harshest examples of the systematic criminalization of dissent by the regime in Havana.
Filed under:
