HAVANA (AP) — Prominent Cuban Dissident José Daniel Ferrer left the island for U.S. asylum on Monday at the request of the U.S. government, Cuban and U.S. authorities confirmed.
Alejandro Garcia, director of bilateral relations at Cuba’s foreign ministry, told The Associated Press that Ferrer, 55, left his hometown of Santiago in eastern Cuba around noon and was on his way to Florida.
“He is leaving the country in response to a request from the U.S. government to the Cuban government, which (Ferrer) agrees to,” Garcia said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a statement that Ferrer arrived on Monday “after suffering years of abuse, torture, and threats against his life in Cuba.”
Ferrer gained international recognition as part of a group of 75 dissidents who were imprisoned and put on trial in 2003. Negotiations with the Catholic Church, Spain, and then-President Raul Castro granted him freedom in 2010-2011 on the condition that he left the island.
Mr. Ferrer refused and instead founded the Patriotic Union of Cuba, a major opposition organization that is not legally recognized by the government.
thousands of times Hit the streets in 2021 Although he was already under house arrest at the time, he was jailed again for protesting against food shortages and power outages and calling for an end to the Communist government.
The United States has already publicly called for Mr. Ferrer’s release, and Amnesty International has added him to its list of six prisoners of conscience. Rubio also called for the release of “700 unjustly detained political prisoners” in a statement Monday.
Ferrer was released in January as part of negotiations with Cuba and the Catholic Church. Free more than 500 prisoners. However, authorities accused him of not complying with release conditions and imprisoned him again in April.
In early October, Mr. Ferrer’s family began distributing letters announcing his acceptance of asylum. The terms of his agreement to leave the island are unclear, but Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that he traveled with “a member of his family.”
The opposition Council for Democratic Transition, to which Ferrer belongs, said the letter prompted harassment of Ferrer and his family and that Ferrer’s resignation was a “significant human relief.”
Cuba has repeatedly accused Ferrer and other opposition leaders of receiving funding from the U.S. government, which continues to impose economic sanctions on the island to encourage regime change.
Ana Hernández of the attorney general’s office said the terms of Ferrer’s imprisonment were changed to ensure his departure was in line with Cuba’s laws and constitution. He did not disclose how the terms had changed or details of the negotiations.
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