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The Florida State Congress paid tribute this Wednesday with a standing ovation to a group of prominent Cuban opponents who visited both the Senate and the House of Representatives, in an act of institutional support for the Agreement on Liberation, the joint roadmap of the opposition for democratic transition in Cuba.
José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), documented the moment in a video posted on Facebook in which the legislators can be heard applauding from the floor of the House of Representatives.
"We have just been surprised with an award at the Florida State Congress. When I started filming, the congressmen were already applauding us," wrote Ferrer, who expressed gratitude for the gesture "on behalf of all those who fight for the freedom of Cuba, especially the political prisoners."
Alongside Ferrer were present Rosa María Payá Acevedo, president of Pasos de Cambio; Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, leader of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC); Alian Collazo and Krista Schmidt.
The Florida Senate issued an official Proclamation signed by Senator Alexis Calatayud of District 38, acknowledging the Liberation Agreement as "the path towards a free and democratic Cuba."
The document states that the Cuban people have endured more than six decades under a communist dictatorship "characterized by repression, lack of political freedoms, economic difficulties, and human rights violations."
The proclamation details that the Agreement includes the immediate restoration of civil liberties, the release of Cuban political prisoners, the establishment of a transitional government, and the organization of free elections supervised internationally.
It also includes pillars for national stabilization: ensuring critical infrastructure, providing humanitarian assistance, and restoring essential public services, in addition to promoting long-term reconstruction through the rule of law, protection of private property, and economic reform.
From the House of Representatives, a legislator expressed during the event: "We thank these leaders who have joined together to chart a path toward democracy and freedom for the Cuban people."
Gutiérrez-Boronat summed up the group's sentiment with a concise phrase: "Grateful for the recognition of the Liberation Agreement."
The Liberation Agreement was publicly presented on March 2 in Miami by Ferrer and Payá, and was symbolically deposited before the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre.
The document, signed by the ARC and Pasos de Cambio, proposes a three-phase transition: the release of over 1,000 political prisoners and the dismantling of the Communist Party; stabilization with a plural provisional government; and democratization through free elections.
Rosa María Payá has promoted the agreement from exile, believing that "the only way out of the crisis is the end of the dictatorship."
Ferrer arrived in Miami in forced exile on October 13, 2025, after being released from prison in Santiago de Cuba with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State, having spent more than half of the last twenty years imprisoned by the regime.
Amnesty International recognizes him as a prisoner of conscience, and upon stepping onto U.S. soil, he declared: "There are other brothers in Cuba suffering".
The support from the Florida Senate and House of Representatives for the Liberation Agreement represents the greatest institutional recognition the Cuban opposition initiative has received since its inception, in a state where the Cuban exile actively mobilizes in favor of the Island's freedom.
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