Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat is a Cuban political scientist born in Havana, Cuba, in 1965, known for being the Secretary General of the NGO Cuban Democratic Directorate, 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 that engage in civic resistance against the Cuban communist regime. Additionally, the Directorate pays attention to the cases of the dozens of political prisoners on the island. The DDC has a radio station that has been broadcasting via 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 graduate 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 work for the establishment of democracy on the island has 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 call for the "criminal prosecution of Raúl Castro Ruz and the creation of an International Court to judge the Castro regime 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 Cuban people continue to receive support like what 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 at the Catholic University and the Pontifical Javeriana University in Cali, alongside others, 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 leader whom he referred to as "one of the main whistleblowers of the atrocities committed by the Cuban dictatorship."
Boronat is also included in the list of exiled leaders who, in 2019, publicly requested President Trump to fully enforce the Helms-Burton Act against foreign companies using property expropriated by the Cuban government.
