A Proposal for Non-Violence and Reconciliation in Cuba
It comes from the recently released political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer
While some congratulate him for his courage and clarity, others label him a “traitor.” His interview with El Toque has sparked heated debate.
HAVANA TIMES – Controversy reached Jose Daniel Ferrer more than a week after, in an interview with the independent media outlet El Toque, he expressed support for a reconciliation process with the Cuban regime if it decided to initiate one. “The issue is to resolve in a non-violent way, as soon as possible, the grave suffering of an entire nation,” argues the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), who was released on January 16.
The opposition leader, one of the most significant members of Cuban dissidence and imprisoned multiple times in recent years, spent an hour and a half in conversation with Eloy Viera, discussing his last period in prison, the harsh living conditions in Mar Verde, the Santiago de Cuba prison where he was isolated for much of the last few years with visits prohibited. He also spends significant time addressing the political situation on the island and possible solutions.
Ferrer, who repeatedly refers to his beliefs regarding forgiveness, admits at one point that he would personally be willing to forgo having some individuals who have wronged him judged, if it means agreeing to a peaceful transition, as long as it is the regime that takes the initiative.
“If they decide, even if it is late, to begin a quick transition process here in Cuba, I would agree for that process to start and for us to reconcile and move Cuba forward. And I will forget about the one who kicked me, those who criticize and attack me who may not have spent 12 years in prison under those conditions,” said the opposition leader. He is well aware that his words are not well-received by a large sector of the population who, in his view, speak from the comfort of not having experienced imprisonment, mistreatment, or attacks on their families.
Ferrer continues by comparing this potential process to those in other countries where dialogue had to take place with the leadership of a dictatorship, citing Poland and Chile among them.
“Didn’t Lech Walesa negotiate with Jaruzelski, the man who declared martial law, brought tanks into the streets, and was responsible for the deaths of peaceful protesters, workers in Poland? Didn’t they end up negotiating a whole process? Didn’t Solidarity come to power with the support of the people? Why shouldn’t we choose that path in Cuba?” he asks. Ferrer reminds us that many of those opposed to dialogue lack the strength of a mass of followers supporting them and insists that the dissidence must remain firm and united.
“The only way to get to that point is for us to unify, to understand each other, to implement truly useful strategies and tactics to gain the political strength necessary to have a movement like the one Gandhi led in India, which forced the British to grant independence, or like the one Solidarity had in Poland that led the Polish to emerge from communism, or like what happened in Chile that brought Pinochet to the referendum, which he lost even by a narrow margin, but he lost. The risk was there for him to win and continue his regime, but he lost,” Ferrer continues, in the most controversial minute and a half of the interview.
“Anything ethical and moral to solve the problem of Cuba. The most undignified thing of all this is to cling to wanting to topple them, to hating them, to wanting them dead, which is not Christian, not healthy, not from someone with good mental and moral health. Even with those who are the most criminal, the most abusive, the ones who have caused the most harm,” he concludes.
The interview was broadcast live on January 24 from El Toque’s Facebook page, and it received applause from the vast majority of those who followed it. Many even emphasized Ferrer’s moral strength in being able to forgive and put the nation’s interests above his own, despite the suffering he has endured over the years.
However, this Saturday, the exiled doctor in Spain, Lucio Enriquez Nodarse, posted a clip from the interview on his social media where Ferrer expresses his willingness to accept a dialogue if the regime requests it. Enriquez proclaimed: “And what is this? Reconciliation with the murderers? We don’t want them dead! We want them judged!”
The post received a flood of comments, ranging from those who believe Ferrer has been “brainwashed, along with being administered substances that confuse him, and the repetition of all that is what we are hearing,” to those who insinuate that he may have made some kind of agreement with the authorities. “Do you really believe he was ever in a place going through what they said happened? Honestly, he must have very good genetics to come out physically so vigorously. I’ve seen people come out beaten down, and you can see the difference between them,” said another user.
Calls for military intervention flooded the comments of that post, where Dr. Enriquez’s friends clashed with those who called for respect for such a long-standing opposition figure. “I think Ferrer is clearer than all of us put together (…) What a shame Lucio, that instead of understanding a person who has suffered far more than most under that dictatorship, you are already labeling him as a traitor. My reading, on the contrary, is admiration— a man who has spent more years in prison than out of it in recent times, who has been beaten many times, and now has space for forgiveness. It is clear that the goal is to end the suffering of the people once and for all, not cling to hate,” said an exiled person in Canada, who also received countless criticisms.
Jose Daniel Ferrer is one of the prisoners from the 2003 Black Spring, when he received a death sentence commuted to 25 years in prison. Eight years later, he was released thanks to efforts by the Vatican and the mediation of Spain. Since then, he has led Unpacu, which has caused him numerous problems with State Security. On July 11, 2021, he was arrested before he could join the massive protests of that day, and he remained there until January 16, 2025, enduring all kinds of mistreatment and humiliation. He is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which has championed him as a symbol of many others punished for their opposition to the regime.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.