Repression in Cuba against opposition groups and humanitarian work continues to intensify. José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), has denounced a new wave of harassment, arrests, and threats in recent weeks by the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel, targeting both activists and vulnerable individuals seeking assistance at the organization’s community kitchen in Santiago de Cuba.
Speaking to Infobae, Ferrer revealed that eight individuals linked to UNPACU were arrested within the past 24 hours alone. “Yesterday, the political police detained five volunteers—two men and three women,” he said. He added that three of them were fined between 24,000 and 36,000 Cuban pesos, while three more arrests were confirmed on Thursday.
One of the detainees was beaten and had his mobile phone confiscated. A female volunteer was forced to record a video renouncing her ties to UNPACU after being threatened. “They told her that if she didn’t do it, they would lock her in a cell with 30 men to be raped,” Ferrer stated. “This tyranny surpasses itself daily in infamy, repression, and cruelty.”
Ferrer also described the detention of three young female volunteers on Thursday, who were held for over 30 minutes at a location near UNPACU’s headquarters. “One of our members observed everything. Later, the women denied being arrested or talking to the political police. I had to let them go because those who give in to threats can pose serious dangers within our organization,” he explained.
He further warned that the regime is coercing collaborators to sabotage the kitchen from the inside. “They are being pressured to contaminate the food, block the toilets, and release insects inside the facility. It’s a constant dirty war,” he said.
Simultaneously, the organizations Prisoners Defenders, Justice Consortium, and UNPACU reported that 350 arbitrary arrests had been recorded over the past four weeks. Most of the victims were vulnerable individuals seeking basic aid such as food and medical care.
“The regime has launched a brutal offensive against the most defenseless. Of the 350 arrests, 335 were vulnerable civilians, 11 were volunteers, and five were activists,” the organizations stated in a joint communiqué.
Since Ferrer’s release from prison on January 16, the community kitchen has delivered over 30,000 humanitarian services, including meals and medical assistance. At its peak, it served up to 1,300 people per day, but that number has dropped to around 500 recently due to ongoing repression and police surveillance.
Between March 17 and 21, over 30 individuals were detained for approaching the aid center. Most were taken to State Security facilities and warned they would be imprisoned if they returned to the kitchen.
On March 21, government sympathizers held a so-called “revolutionary reaffirmation act”—also known as an “act of repudiation”—outside the UNPACU headquarters. According to reports, members and affiliates of the ruling Communist Party shouted insults and made obscene gestures toward Dr. Nelva Ismarays Ortega Tamayo, Ferrer’s wife and key figure in the humanitarian initiative.
The repression persisted throughout the week of March 22–28. In just six days, 105 short-term arbitrary arrests were recorded. On March 31, senior political police officials led an operation to intercept individuals leaving the kitchen with food. The next day, on April 1, a force of 32 agents, patrol cars, motorcycles, and a police van capable of mass arrests surrounded the facility. More than 40 people were detained, their food thrown to the ground.
Among the detainees was Daniel Ferrer Jiménez, father of political prisoner Enrique Ferrer Hechavarría, who had been arrested three times in 40 days. Another was 60-year-old Jorge Luis Colá Montané, a volunteer who reportedly had 200 pesos stolen by political police, falsely accused of receiving the money from UNPACU. That same day, brothers Agustín and Víctor Manuel Estrada Rodríguez—who help transport firewood for cooking—were also arrested.
The crackdown intensified further on April 2. Alongside dozens of arrests of aid recipients, activist and former political prisoner Roilán Zárraga Ferrer was detained while trying to buy charcoal. He was fined 24,000 pesos and threatened with prison.
That day, volunteer Marilyn Thalía Álvarez Pérez was violently arrested while carrying food for her two children. She was taken to the Second Police Unit in Santiago, known as “El Palacete.” According to her account, she was placed in a holding room with 30 alleged common criminals, threatened with prison, and warned that her husband—political prisoner Aníbal Ribiaux Figueredo—would be killed if she refused to become an informant for the political police.
Also arrested were volunteer Adisnubia Rondón Román and her 17-year-old son, Alexander Fonseca Rondón. Both were threatened with prison—“with whatever charges they feel like”—if Adisnubia continued her voluntary work with the kitchen.
According to the report, more than 50 additional vulnerable individuals were detained that same day and subjected to acts of repression in a facility just two blocks from UNPACU’s headquarters, now turned into a repression command center by State Security forces.
