The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer arrived this Saturday at Madrid-Barajas Airport to begin a month-long tour across more than 10 European countries, but as soon as he connected to the internet, he encountered Trump's statements about taking Cuba «almost immediately» and was close to turning back.
"I was frightened. I was so scared that I said I think I need to book a ticket back to the United States, to Miami, to the American continent. I need to be as close as possible to Havana," Ferrer stated in a video recorded at the airport.
President Donald Trump stated on Friday night in West Palm Beach that, after concluding operations in Iran, the United States would take control of Cuba. Trump even threatened to send the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Cuban coasts to force the regime's surrender.
Ferrer recounted that he continued reading and found the condition that Trump imposed: first to finish with Iran. "I kept reading and it says Donald Trump that when Iran is finished, then I think I can carry out or at least start my tour of Europe," he explained with relief and humor.
The opposition figure, exiled to the United States in October 2025, also publicly thanked President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their "firm and correct policy against a criminal tyranny that is an enemy of freedom, democracy, human rights, market economy, and the main values of the Western world."
At the airport, Ferrer reunited with Javier Larrondo, the founder and president of Prisoners Defenders, whom he had not met in person for about 10 years. Together, they will tour governments, parliaments, and human rights organizations throughout Europe.
The stated objective of the tour is for Europe to align with the needs and desires of the Cuban people. "Freedom for political prisoners, freedom for Cuba, that is the key to defending everything we do for Europe," Ferrer emphasized.
The visit comes at a time of heightened pressure from Washington on Havana. On the same Friday, Trump signed a new executive order that expands sanctions against the regime, blocking assets of Cuban officials in the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, and imposing secondary sanctions on foreign banks that facilitate transactions with those sanctioned.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed over 240 sanctions and intercepted at least seven tankers carrying oil destined for Cuba, which has reduced Cuba's energy imports by between 80% and 90% and caused blackouts of up to 25 hours a day in more than 55% of the country.
Ferrer was forcibly exiled to Miami in October 2025 after decades of persecution by the regime. Since then, he has maintained an intense political activity, including a standing ovation in the Florida Congress alongside other Cuban opponents last Tuesday.
Prisoners Defenders, Larrondo's organization, is currently recording a historic record of more than 1,250 political prisoners in Cuba, out of which 467 suffer from serious illnesses due to mistreatment, according to data from the end of March.
“Hopefully, he doesn't give us time for our mission. Hopefully, we'll have to return immediately,” said Ferrer, referencing the possibility that Trump might act before the conclusion of the European tour.
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