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José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), published a strong message on his verified X account this Monday, in which he links the fall of Nicolás Maduro with the future of Cuba and warns that Raúl Castro "will soon fall."
"Those who oppose the capture of the murderer Raúl Castro are the same or very similar to those who opposed the capture of Nicolás Maduro. So keep this very much in mind: one has already fallen and Venezuela will be free. The other will fall soon, and Cuba will be free, whether you like it or not," wrote Ferrer.
The message arrives just five days after the U.S. Department of Justice filed federal charges against Raúl Castro for the downing of two aircraft from Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, in which four Cuban-Americans were killed: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The accusation, announced at the Freedom Tower in Miami, includes charges of conspiracy to assassinate U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide. Along with Raúl Castro, five former Cuban military personnel were charged. Raúl Castro could face life imprisonment if tried and convicted in the U.S.
Ferrer opened his post by mentioning the political prisoner Lizandra Góngora, who declared a hunger and thirst strike on April 23 from Los Colonos prison in the Isle of Youth, where she is serving a sentence of 14 years for her participation in the protests of July 11, 2021.
"I just listened to an audio where the brave political prisoner Lizandra Góngora supports the prosecution of the criminal tyrant Raúl Castro. That is the sentiment of the majority of Cubans," wrote the opposition leader.
In his message, Ferrer also invokes Alexander Verdecia, the coordinator of UNPACU in Río Cauto, Granma, detained since February 2025 and against whom the Cuban Prosecutor's Office requested 10 years in prison, as well as the historic activists Ángel Moya and Berta Soler of the Ladies in White, who were repeatedly detained in 2025 and 2026.
Ferrer uses these cases to advocate for a "surgical military operation" against the regime and to respond to those who oppose it: "Those who claim to be against a surgical military operation to liberate Cuba are, consciously or unconsciously, on the side of the tyranny that kills political prisoners, that incarcerates children in hellish prisons, that beats and tortures those who think differently."
The context of the message is one of maximum international pressure on Havana. On January 3, 2026, Nicolás Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation, which immediately prompted calls from the Cuban exile community that "it's Cuba's turn now."
Ferrer, who arrived in exile in Miami on October 13, 2025, after being exiled from Cuba, has since become one of the most active voices in connecting both processes. The regime, for its part, responded to the federal accusation by Díaz-Canel publicly justifying the downing of the planes and labeling the charges as a political act.
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