Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat is a Cuban political scientist born in Havana, Cuba in 1965, known for being the Secretary General of the non-governmental organization Directorio Democrático Cubano, which he co-founded in 1990. According to the director himself, this organization works in support of the resistance within Cuba, assisting the various groups engaged in civic resistance against the Cuban communist regime. Additionally, the Directorio pays attention to the cases of the dozens of political prisoners on the island. The DDC operates a radio station that has been broadcasting on shortwave to Cuba for 14 years: Radio República.
Gutiérrez Boronat, along with his family, settled in the United States from Cuba in 1971. He holds a PhD in International Studies from the University of Miami, along with postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Communications from Florida International University. He is also a professor and an award-winning writer
Those who know Boronat describe him as a Catholic by conviction, possessing an encyclopedic political culture and a deep knowledge of Cuban history. His efforts towards establishing democracy on the island have made him one of the most influential Cuban voices in the United States.
On July 10, 2020, he met with Donald Trump in Miami to request the "criminal prosecution of Raúl Castro Ruz and the establishment of an International Tribunal to judge Castroism for crimes against humanity." His organization is already pursuing an international trial against the Cuban government for such crimes.
Gutiérrez-Boronat added in his meeting with Trump that "Cuba is the base of communist occupation in Venezuela and Nicaragua. If the Cubans continue to receive support like the one you are giving them to free Cuba, the entire hemisphere will breathe easier, including the United States."
In 2019, he delivered a series of lectures alongside others at the Catholic University and the Pontifical Javeriana University in Cali about the dangers of socialism.
Gutiérrez is also the director of the successful campaign to end cruise tourism to the Island.
In 2018, Bolsonaro met with the Cuban opposition figure whom he described as "one of the leading whistleblowers of the atrocities committed by the Cuban dictatorship."
Boronat also joins the list of exile leaders who, in 2019, publicly urged President Trump to fully enforce the Helms-Burton Act against foreign companies that use goods expropriated by the Cuban government.
