The Cuban political prisoner and leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), José Daniel Ferrer, sternly responded to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after his refusal of any military intervention on the island, invoking testimonies of extreme hardship within the country.
The statements from Ferrer come after the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, rejected any military intervention in Cuba this Monday during the Hannover Messe 2026 trade fair, in a joint press conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
"Despite all the internal political problems [...] there is no discernible threat emanating from Cuba towards other countries," stated Merz.
The chancellor also added that: “the ability to defend oneself does not imply the right to intervene militarily in other states when their political systems do not align.”
Ferrer has responded harshly.
"Merz says that there is no reason for a surgical military intervention against the Castro-communist regime. He should ask the thousands of mothers living in situations like these if they want an intervention that saves them from hunger and extreme poverty, asserted the former political prisoner."
The central argument of the opposition leader is that those who reject military action "generally eat every day, do not lack for medicine, nor are they beaten when they protest because they do not have medicine or food."
Immediately afterwards, he delivered one of the most powerful interrogations of his message: “Let him ask the thousands of mothers who live in situations like this [...] whether they want an intervention that saves them from hunger, from extreme misery.”
The video, just over five minutes long, centered on the direct testimony of a Cuban mother whose children collect garbage to be able to eat, in an attempt to illustrate—according to Ferrer—the reality that is ignored from outside the country.
“Let them ask the millions of Cubans living in conditions very similar to this, and if they speak out, if they protest, they are repressed and end up in prison,” the opposition member insisted.
In one of the most difficult moments of his intervention, he added: "hunger and tuberculosis are killing them in the prisons of tyranny, which are very similar to the extermination camps of Nazi Germany."
Ferrer brought his argument to the core of the international debate: “ask them whether a surgical intervention against the Castro-communist regime is necessary or not, and they will respond.”
The testimony that marked the video
Ferrer’s message was based on the story of Rosalda Cortillo Pérez, a Cuban mother who described a situation of extreme neglect.
“Look where I am sleeping: on a bed I found in the dumpster, with my two little children,” the woman recounted in the video.
According to what he explained, his children have had to go out onto the streets to survive: “My oldest spent seven days outside the house collecting garbage to be able to eat [...] and the little one, when he's hungry, starts picking up trash on the street.”
The woman stated that she was expelled from a shelter and has been without state support for months.
The context: Germany, Trump, and the tension over Cuba
Ferrero's response to Merz comes amid a context of increasing international tension.
U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of action against Cuba following recent interventions in Venezuela and Iran, while the Pentagon—according to reports—has accelerated discreet plans related to the island.
On his part, the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel warned on April 7, in an interview with Newsweek, about the consequences of any military action.
Ferrer, who arrived in Miami on October 20, 2025, after being released from a prison in Cuba, has maintained a firm stance on the need for strong action against the Cuban regime.
In previous statements, he maintained that it would not be a conventional war, but rather "a surgical operation," referring to a limited and targeted intervention.
His response to Merz brings back to the forefront the clash between two perspectives: that of international leaders who advocate for diplomacy and reject the use of force, and that of opposing sectors who believe that the severity of the crisis in Cuba would justify more drastic measures.
The contrast between both positions sharpens when political discourses intersect with testimonies like that of Cortillo Pérez, which reveal a reality marked by hunger, insecurity, and a lack of state protection within the island.
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