Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat is a Cuban political scientist born in Havana, Cuba in 1965, known for being the Secretary General of the NGO Cubano Democratic Directory, which he co-founded in 1990. According to the director himself, this organization works to support the resistance within Cuba, aiding the various groups engaged in civic resistance against the Cuban communist regime. Additionally, the Directory pays attention to the cases of the dozens of political prisoners on the island. The DDC has 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 Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami, along with postgraduate degrees and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Communications from Florida International University. He is also a professor and an award-winning author
Those who know Boronat describe him as a staunch Catholic, 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 Court to judge the Castro regime for crimes against humanity." His organization is already working on 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 liberate Cuba, the entire hemisphere will breathe easier, including the United States."
In 2019, he gave a series of lectures at the Catholic University and the Pontifical Javeriana University in Cali, alongside others, on 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 called "one of the main denouncers of the atrocities committed by the Cuban dictatorship."
Boronat is also on the list of exile leaders who requested in 2019 that President Trump implement the Helms-Burton Act in full against foreign companies using goods expropriated by the Cuban government in a public message.
