Nelva Ortega, the wife of prominent Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, staged a protest on October 4 at 6:30 p.m., braving the rain outside Mar Verde Prison in Santiago de Cuba. Her husband is currently incarcerated there. Ortega was moved to act after receiving a letter from Ferrer stating that he had not been given previous letters from his family. Ferrer warned that without news from them, he would refuse food deliveries and begin yet another hunger strike.
"Imagine our distress; we couldn't leave without any answers," Ortega expressed. "We ran out of food, and there was no transportation available at that hour." Lieutenant Colonel Ortiz, the head of internal order, accepted the food package and, with an alleged nurse, sent a reply from Ferrer at 4:57 p.m. to the letter we had sent him that day. "It's clear they're manipulating and exploiting my husband's situation," Ortega said. In his note, Ferrer expressed love and concern for his family, gratitude to the European Union and supportive friends, and mentioned how wonderful it would be to receive the Sakharov Prize.
Ortega disclosed that Archbishop Dionisio García of Santiago de Cuba visited Ferrer in September. Ferrer shared with the archbishop that he had been suffering from severe pain in his right arm for over a month, indicating a triceps tear, which limits his movement and makes writing slow and difficult.
Ortega also revealed that the archbishop has visited Ferrer four times and condemned the interception of phone calls she had with her husband. "Since we last saw him as a family on March 7, 2023, we've only received five confirmations of his well-being," she lamented. She expressed the heartache that their young son, who has not seen his father since June 2023, is experiencing. "It's been tough on our child, impacting his school performance due to sadness and disconnection from denied visits," Ortega explained. "He even started wetting the bed again after the last visit in September, where he saw the prison authorities, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pinera Guerra, and Major Julio Fonseca, who were responsible for assaulting my husband on December 9, 2022."
Last Friday, Ortega, along with her five-year-old son Daniel José Ferrer and stepdaughter Fátima Victoria Ferrer, went to Mar Verde Prison for a scheduled family visit. As reported by CiberCuba, they were once again denied access to see Ferrer. "They only allowed us to leave the food and hygiene products because of his convictions and patriotism," Ortega said in an audio message obtained by this outlet.
Ortega reminded everyone of her husband's unjust, arbitrary, and violent arrest on July 11, 2021, aimed at preventing his participation in the widespread protests across the island. He was kidnapped again on August 14 that same year at the same prison. She added that Ferrer is held in a technologically equipped punishment cell designed to torture him, isolated from the prison community with very limited exposure to the outside world, including sunlight. Under inhuman, cruel, and degrading conditions, he suffers physical and psychological abuse and is defamed in the state-controlled media without a chance to defend himself.
Month after month, Ortega continues to denounce the deplorable conditions Ferrer faces: lack of proper nutrition, drinking barely sufficient and non-potable water, no medical or dental care, and being "left alone with the mosquitoes." She reiterated that her husband is being slowly killed while imprisoned.