Cuba frees opposition leader Ferrer after deal with Biden

HAVANA, Cuba

Cuba freed opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer and some other prisoners on Thursday as part of a deal with outgoing United States President Joe Biden.

Biden agreed to remove Cuba from Washington's list of terrorism sponsors, after which Cuba on Wednesday started freeing about 553 prisoners. The Biden administration said many of these were political prisoners.

"I am fine, surrounded by family and friends," Ferrer said. "I had been arbitrarily imprisoned for the third time, and a false judicial process had been set up," he told the AP news agency.

Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years, was one of the most high-profile prisoners to be released.

"Thank God we have him home," his wife, Nelva Ortega, told AFP news agency.

Ferrer, 54, hails from the province of Santiago. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003 but released in 2011 after mediation by the Catholic Church.

He founded the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), an active opposition organization. Political opposition to the Communist Party is prohibited in one-party Cuba.

Ferrer was arrested again in 2021 during the anti-government mass protests.

After being released, Ferrer urged Cubans on a Miami-based radio program not to be afraid to stand up against an "increasingly scared" and "increasingly weak" Cuban government.

Many of those released were arrested during the 2021 demonstrations, where they were protesting against power outages, food shortages and rising prices.