The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García shared an emotional video on Facebook this Saturday, in which he is seen reunited with his daughter Daniela Patricia Ferrer Reyes, who is almost nine years old, in the United States, after nearly four years apart.
"The last time we saw each other was in 2022, right? In the year 2022 when I was in prison. Then there was a period, a time without visits," Ferrer said to the girl in the video, recorded in a relaxed and family-friendly setting.
The reunion comes after years of forced separation, repression, and family suffering imposed by the Cuban regime.
Ferrer was arrested on July 12, 2021, a day after the massive protests of July 11, and was detained in the Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba. Since March 17, 2023, he has been held incommunicado in a punishment cell, with no visits or communication with his family.
In June 2023, when his family finally managed to see him after months of being out of contact, they found him in his underwear, struggling to walk and in severe pain. In November 2024, the United States government publicly condemned a beating he suffered inside prison.
The regime's repression also extended to his children. His eldest son, José Daniel Ferrer Cantillo, was detained alongside him on the same day of 11J, and although he was released a week later, prison authorities subsequently denied him visits as a reprisal for his participation in the protests on November 15 of 2021.
Daniela Patricia, daughter of Ferrer and his ex-partner Liettys Rachel Reyes, entered the United States in 2022 with her aunt, but found herself in a migratory limbo at risk of deportation to Cuba, having received a Supervision Order. The girl was required to file a political asylum case before November 2025.
Ferrer was released on January 16, 2025, but the regime revoked his parole on April 29 of that year and sent him back to Mar Verde. Finally, on October 13, he left Cuba for Miami along with his wife Nelva Ortega and three children, accompanied by officials from the U.S. Department of State, accepting exile as a condition imposed by the dictatorship.
In the video posted this Saturday, Ferrer calls Daniela Patricia "the most beautiful girl in the galaxy" and tells her, "I imagined you much less. And you have grown so much. And you look absolutely stunning."
The girl turns nine years old on April 23rd, and her father has already promised her a gift: "We're going to buy you a violin. Right now, let's see how much a violin costs so we can buy the violin."
Ferrer also told his daughter that he plans to return to Cuba soon to continue his fight: "I came to see you because soon, very soon, dad will be back in Cuba. And of course, I will come to see you, and you will come to see me."
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