José Daniel Ferrer began a three-day hunger strike on Thursday in solidarity with political prisoner Roilán Álvarez, who is completing 20 days of fasting today in a prison in Holguín.
The information was disclosed by journalist Hanoi Martínez, who specified on Facebook that the decision aims to support the protest of the imprisoned activist and draw attention to his situation.
The leader of the opposition himself, when he was imprisoned in Cuba, went on hunger strikes to denounce abuses and inhumane conditions in prisons.
“In solidarity with Roilán, with my brother Félix Navarro and Saily Navarro, and the political prisoners who are enduring terrible conditions in the regime’s prisons; in solidarity with all the victims of repression right now in the Canaleta prison, in Ciego de Ávila,” Ferrer said to Martí Noticias.
The fast will take place at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, an action that, according to Ferrer: "It's the least I can do for those who suffer, those who risk their lives in a hunger strike, and those who survive under extreme conditions in prisons in Cuba."
This hunger strike, which began this Thursday, is the first one undertaken since arriving in "involuntary exile" in the United States in October 2025.
Last Tuesday, when Álvarez had been on a hunger strike for 18 days, there were already signs of a noticeable deterioration in his physical condition, and allegations of suspected assaults while in custody were being reported.
Relatives who saw him days before noted that they found him very weakened, with concerning signs that increased alarm among his close ones.
According to these testimonies, the opposition member remains detained at the facility known as “Todo el Mundo Canta” in Holguín, a prison that activists have repeatedly criticized for its conditions of confinement.
Álvarez holds the protest as a form of rejection against what he considers an arbitrary detention for political reasons.
With two additional days having passed without food intake since the last public update on his condition, concerns for his health are intensifying.
Close associates and human rights advocates warn that a prolonged hunger strike, especially in a prison environment with medical limitations, can lead to severe and even irreversible consequences if immediate measures are not taken to ensure the individual's physical integrity.
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