First statements from José Daniel Ferrer in Miami: "Mixed feelings"

The opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García, who arrived in Miami this Monday after being forcibly exiled by the Cuban regime, confessed to having "mixed feelings" in his first public statements on U.S. soil.

"I am happy to be with my family, without fear that our house will be raided right now; happy to be in a land of freedom with so many good friends, very dear to me and to my family, but very sad especially for those who remain in prison," he stated to Telemundo 51 minutes after arriving at the headquarters of the Cuban American National Foundation (FNCA).

Ferrer was warmly welcomed by the opposition figure Rosa María Payá upon his arrival at the FNCA, where he held a press conference this afternoon.

With a Cuban flag draped over his shoulders, the Cuban opposition member expressed gratitude for the presence of members of the Cuban exile community and journalists at the FNCA headquarters, stating that "the moment is one of mixed emotions."

He expressed that he was very happy to be with a part of his family - three of his children, his nephew, his brother, his wife Nelva Ismarays Ortega Tamayo, "sister in struggle" - as well as fellow fighters and many friends, which he assured is "a great reason for joy and enjoyment."

However, he considered it to be "a very hard, difficult, and sad moment because there are other brothers in Cuba who are surviving in terrible conditions in the worst prisons of the Western Hemisphere," and he mentioned the opponents Félix Navarro, Saylí Navarro, Sissi Abascal, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, and Lizandra Góngora. "There are many... there are a lot throughout the country," he emphasized.

"And the vast majority here knows what the reality of Cuba is at this moment. It is a terrible situation of extreme injustice, of all kinds of arbitrariness, of hunger... Total collapse. There is barely any electricity, medical services are hardly functioning, transportation is barely operational, and many homes are falling apart. Cuba is experiencing a truly lamentable situation. Just imagine, then, how the regime's prisons must be. The regime's prisons are a hell," Ferrer emphasized, listing some of the atrocious tortures and mistreatments that political prisoners endure in Cuba at the hands of the regime's guards.

"That's why I say I have mixed emotions. Happy on one hand, sad on the other. And that sadness is related to the fact that I never thought I would leave Cuba, just as I never thought the regime would last until 2025," he admitted, recalling his years of struggle, starting in 1991 when he joined the peaceful opposition against the dictatorship imposed on the island, alongside his brother.

He recalled the moments when he took part in the campaign for the Proyecto Varela, with its founder, the opposition leader Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, whom he said was killed "at the forefront of the struggle," and revealed that he then believed the regime would not last another five years.

"All of us Cubans are to blame for how long it has lasted. Those of us in exile, those who are in Cuba, all Cubans, both those inside and those in the diaspora," he warned.

However, he stated that "this is not the time to lament" and that "the conditions are very favorable" for "those of us who are willing to return to put an end to the tyranny as soon as possible, because Cuba needs it, we all need it, the continent needs it, the planet needs it."

"My intention upon arriving here is to continue making my modest contribution to the pursuit of greater unity and effectiveness both inside and outside of Cuba. The regime must be cornered both domestically and internationally. The political police should not rest for a moment, he emphasized, and defended the need to take action and surround the regime with peaceful but active methods: graffiti, public messages, social mobilization."

Later he recalled that "even our mambises needed the support of the United States, and it was here in the United States where José Martí carried out his most significant political activism in favor of the Necessary War, for the freedom and independence of Cuba."

"Without the slightest intention of comparing myself, because I wouldn't be so crazy as to do so, with the heroes of our independence: Martí, Maceo, Gómez, Flor Crombet and many others had to leave at a certain moment, but they returned. My intention is not to wait 17 years as some of them did to return; my intention is that we can return, many of us as soon as possible, repeat, to put an end to tyranny," he stated in his remarks before the media's question round.

In responding to the journalists' questions, Ferrer asserted that "the struggle continues with renewed effort both inside and outside of Cuba" and stated that "the dictatorship of Cuba must be ended before this government of Donald Trump comes to a close."

The founder and leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) stated that "the U.S. has a very serious problem with communism in Cuba—due to its ties with Russia, China, and Iran—so in addition to helping us, it would be helping itself."

An emblematic figure of the opposition to the regime on the island for over three decades, Ferrer, 55, arrived in the U.S. early Monday afternoon after being released and exiled by the government of Havana. The opposition leader was freed from Mar Verde prison before noon and was immediately transported to Santiago de Cuba airport, from where he flew to the city of Miami along with his wife and three of his children.

Frequently asked questions about the exile of José Daniel Ferrer and the political situation in Cuba