A video circulating on social media shows the moment when Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), boards the American Airlines flight that took him into exile from Antonio Maceo Airport in Santiago de Cuba.
The images, shared on platforms like Facebook and X, show Ferrer accompanied by officials, alleged State Security agents, and airport workers, under strict security measures.
In the footage recorded from an area near the runway, the boarding of the opposition figure and some of the crew can be seen while airport agents monitor the scene.
The video, as several users agree, is believed to have been leaked by the State Security, with the intention of showing that Ferrer "did not leave in handcuffs or subdued," in an attempt to whitewash the exile of the opposition leader.
However, the reality is that the regime expelled him from the country after more than four years of imprisonment and torture, in a process that his family described as "forced exile."
The communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada reported on Facebook a significant police presence in Santiago de Cuba, from the roundabout leading to the airport to the airport terminal itself.
"They are asking for identification cards and passports from everyone trying to get close. They only allow neighbors who can prove residency in the area to pass," she wrote on her social media, referring to the tension surrounding the departure of Ferrer and his family.
According to another video shared by Mayeta Labrada, a State Security minibus, identified in another video with license plate P 245 145, allegedly transported the family of the opposition member from their residence in the Santiago neighborhood of Altamira to the airport.
Neighbors confirmed that his wife and minor children traveled, accompanied by U.S. consular staff.
During the conference held after his arrival in Miami, Ferrer recounted that he did not see his family until he boarded the plane, fearing that he would be embarked without them. His wife described the hours of waiting at Santiago de Cuba airport as "eternal," filled with delays and tension, until they finally reunited on the plane's staircase.
Ferrer added that the officers who escorted him from the prison to the airport were “surprisingly kind,” the same ones—he said with irony—who had beaten and tortured him for years. “I even joked with them, telling them I was going to appoint them as ministers of the Interior because they seemed like different people,” he recounted.
Although the regime claims that Ferrer "voluntarily accepted" leaving the country, various sources assert that he will not be allowed to return. The operation closed one of the toughest chapters of political repression in Cuba and marked the beginning of a new phase of struggle from exile for the leader of UNPACU.
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