José Daniel Ferrer García is a Cuban human rights activist born in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba on July 29, 1970. He founded the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) in August 2011, a dissident organization that peacefully fights against any form of repression of civil liberties in Cuba.
In March 2003, he was arrested by Cuban authorities for being one of the main promoters of the Varela Project, a bill created and led by Cuban activist Oswaldo Payá in 1998, which advocated for political reforms in Cuba. He was one of the 75 prisoners of conscience jailed during the wave of arrests that took place in the spring of 2003, known as the Cuban Black Spring.
On that occasion, the Prosecutor's Office sought the death penalty for José Daniel. The pressure from international public opinion following the death in prison of the political activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February 2010, and the hunger and thirst strike lasting 135 days, posing an imminent risk of death for the dissident Guillermo Fariñas, led to the release of political prisoners after offering them exile in Spain in exchange for their freedom. From the group of 116 political prisoners released thanks to the intervention of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cuban Catholic Church, 12 prisoners, including Ferrer, refused to leave the island. Finally, on August 24, 2011, he was released.
Since that moment, José Daniel has been detained and held incommunicado several times and has reported torture and a lack of medical care. Both he and the activists that make up UNPACU have been threatened with imprisonment.
In February 2021, Ferrer was detained for 10 hours under threats of imprisonment if he did not abandon his activism and humanitarian work as soon as possible, and seek employment with the State. The Biden Administration and the Vice President of the European Parliament, Dita Charanzová, called for the activist's release.
A few days before the leader's arrest, State Security officers disguised as garlic vendors violently attacked him while he was distributing food to vulnerable people in Santiago de Cuba.
After Ferrer put up Patria y Vida posters at his home and the UNPACU headquarters, regime supporters arrived in a truck, threw feces, and painted the façade of the place to remove the posters. Inside the house were his young child, his wife, and several UNPACU activists and promoters of CubaDecide.
José Daniel Ferrer García has been awarded the following prizes:
Truman-Reagan Freedom Award by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation 2020, XIII International Human Rights Award from the Hispano-Cuban Foundation, based in Madrid, Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy
