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Cuban Dissident Jose Daniel⁤ Ferrer Arrives in US After Prison Release

Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer vowed Monday to keep fighting for democracy in his ⁤country after he was ⁤freed from prison and began ⁤his exile‍ in the United States.

After⁢ he landed in ⁣Miami on a flight from the communist-run⁣ island nation, Washington demanded that Cuba release more then 700 other political prisoners.

“I will keep up the fight, but I will not continue it alone.‍ I have⁢ to work with the entire exile community,”⁢ Ferrer, the⁤ leader of the Cuban opposition, told a press conference in Miami’s Little Havana, a Cuban flag draped⁢ around his shoulders.

Ferrer arrived in⁣ South Florida after being freed ⁤from⁢ a Cuban prison earlier on Monday.

“I’m very happy ‍and content to ⁢be with ⁢a good part of my family,” he said, and with “my comrades in the struggle, and many friends.”

“But, on ⁣the other hand, it’s a very hard, arduous, and sad time because there‍ are⁢ other brothers and sisters in cuba suffering in terrible conditions in ‍the worst prisons ⁣in the Western Hemisphere.”

His departure deals a blow ‍to the opposition ⁤movement in Cuba. The country is facing its worst economic crisis in decades and an exodus of young peopel, mainly to the United ⁤States.

Read more: US sanctions Cuban president, top officials for ‘regime’s brutality’

Torture

Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the top‍ Cuban dissident’s arrival in the US.

“Ferrer’s leadership and tireless advocacy for the Cuban people was ⁣a threat⁣ to the regime, which repeatedly ⁤imprisoned and tortured him. we are glad that Ferrer is now free from the regime’s oppression,” Rubio said in a⁢ statement.

“We call for⁢ the immediate ⁤release of the more than⁤ 700 ⁢unjustly detained political prisoners and urge the⁤ international community ⁢to join us in holding the Cuban regime accountable,” added America’s top diplomat, a Miami native and son of Cuban exiles.