The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer stated in an interview with CiberCuba that there are two specific paths to mitigate the risk of regime infiltrators penetrating a potential transitional government in Cuba, and he assured that he has personally identified more than 200 spies from MININT throughout his opposition career.
"There are two very effective ways. I know very clever people in the opposition who have such precise information to know who everyone is that they would stand against them," declared Ferrer, founder and leader of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU), the largest opposition organization on the island.
The second avenue he pointed out is U.S. intelligence. "U.S. intelligence knows who is who in Cuba, because there is no doubt that they have many agents or several well-placed agents in Cuba. This humble mortal has been given— not sold — information that, when I have verified and confirmed it, is 100% accurate," he stated.
Ferrer described infiltration as a systematic and immediate policy of the MININT. "As soon as we establish a group, they send an agent to infiltrate, because there cannot be an organization without them infiltrating it. The policy of the MININT is that there cannot be a group without an infiltrator inside."
The opposition member recounted that the agent sent eventually becomes the closest and most trusted activist. "If you are sleeping with your enemy, for God's sake, you have him; he eats with you, is with you 24 hours a day, and has become the person you trust the most."
To illustrate the depth of the problem, Ferrer cited historical cases he experienced himself. He mentioned Odilia Collazo, identified in 2003 as agent "Tania" of State Security, whom he initially believed to be a committed fighter after hearing her on Radio Martí: “Odilia spoke with such confidence, with such firmness... Apparently with an incredible bravado. Of course, it was authorized; it was all theater.”
He also mentioned Manuel David Orrio, known as "Agent Miguel," who infiltrated independent journalism and dissident networks, and Serpa Maceira, identified as an agent of MININT by the late Osvaldo Payá Sardiñas during a meeting of the Christian Liberation Movement in 2002, while they were planning the collection of signatures for the Varela Project in Isla de Pinos.
Ferrer assured that, despite his own mistakes, his record of detection is solid. "More than 200 agents since I started in the opposition—over 200, small, medium, and top-tier. When I have doubts, I say I don't know, I'm not sure. But when I say it is, so far I haven't been wrong."
The opposition leader harshly criticized those within the opposition who prefer to remain silent about the issue to avoid embarrassment, comparing them to a doctor who refuses to operate. "We are like the surgeon who, knowing that the cancer must be removed, doesn't want to talk about it... The cancer continues to kill because you don't want to remove it, you don't want to fight it, you don't even want to bring it to light."
However, he expressed confidence that the current situation is different from the past. "The Trojan horses here are crippled, they are malnourished, and believe me, they will not produce; they will fail," he stated, referring to the regime's attempts to place agents in key positions within the opposition in anticipation of a transition.
The interview takes place following a tour by Ferrer through 12 European countries, during which he appeared before the European Parliament, met with 52 Members of the European Parliament in Brussels, and interviewed with political leaders in Spain and Eastern Europe to demand international pressure against the Cuban communist regime.
"Without intelligence and counterintelligence, we are simply enthusiasts, romantics, men and women who are heroes capable of dying for a cause, but so naive that they mock you to your face and you don't even realize it," Ferrer concluded.
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