The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is a non-violent opposition organization in Cuba that brings together Cuban dissidents. It was founded on August 24, 2011, by José Daniel Ferrer García after he was released from prison in March 2011 and refused to leave the country.
Although UNPACU started with just twelve members, it now has over ten thousand affiliated activists and 122 cells. By 2017, they reported a total of 53 activists imprisoned in Cuba for political reasons.
UNPACU has representation both in the United States and in the European Union.
On the organization's website, it can be read: “UNPACU's activism is based on non-violent resistance and disobedience, the same principle that underpinned the so-called 'color revolutions', whose action frameworks were outlined by Gene Sharp.”
Recognized by Amnesty International since its inception, this movement has denounced the harassment, intimidation, and arrests its members have faced at the hands of Cuban authorities.
As part of its growth and consolidation, UNPACU absorbed the peaceful dissident organization FANTU in 2013, led by the renowned dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas.
Among its objectives, the organization actively denounces the lack of civil liberties as well as the economic precariousness experienced on the island.
In January 2012, one of its members, the Cuban dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza, 31 years old, died at the Juan Bruno Zayas Hospital in Santiago de Cuba after a 50-day hunger strike he had initiated in prison following his conviction for contempt, which resulted in a four-year prison sentence for participating in a peaceful demonstration.
For the umpteenth time, the family visit to the political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer is denied.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team
The U.S. joins the demand for the freedom of José Daniel Ferrer.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team
Cuban activist gives the regime a piece of his mind.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team
Otaola and Descemer Bueno resolve their dispute amicably and agree to donate to UNPACU.
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State Security threatens opposition member and husband of political prisoner Aymara Nieto.
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José Daniel Ferrer is denied family visits and phone calls.
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Letter to José Daniel Ferrer from his niece: "You will leave that prison."
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Authorities confiscate correspondence from José Daniel Ferrer at Mar Verde prison.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team
José Daniel Ferrer receives his first family visit in six months.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team
The son of activist Raisa Velázquez is assaulted and robbed of his phone.
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José Daniel Ferrer's wife and son manage to see him in prison.
- CiberCuba Writing Team
Families with children detained after a rally in Santiago de Cuba.
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Family of opposition member reports kidnapping in Cuba: "They hooded us and injected us."
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José Daniel Ferrer has been without the right to make phone calls from prison for nearly 4 months.
- CiberCuba's editorial team
Human Rights Watch demands the release of José Daniel Ferrer.
- CiberCuba Editorial Team