Ferrer was among the 75 dissidents jailed by the Castro government in what's known as the Black Spring of 2003.
He was condemned to 25 years in prison and was released in 2011 thanks to the Church’s intervention. However, he refused to be expatriated to Spain and now leads the Patriotic Union of Cuba, which seeks a peaceful transition to democracy for the country.
Ferrer explained that his political ideas “are in large measure based on the Gospels and the Social Doctrine of the Church,” and that he fully shares John Paul II’s vision – outlined in his encyclical Centesimus Annus – on the need for nations to be governed by democratic systems and by the authentic rule of law.
He criticized the Communist regime of the Castro brothers for violating the rights and freedoms of Cubans, as well as those who do nothing to change the country and “stand on the sidelines” waiting for others to make sacrifices.
“I think that is a somewhat non-committal, if not almost cowardly attitude,” he said. “Every lay Catholic, every Christian should make a commitment to ensure a legal framework exists in every nation that allows all people to defend their ideas, not only religious ones, not only their faith in God, but also their political and cultural ideas, in every area, in the freest way possible.”
Cubans ought to have the freedom to choose from more than just the one Communist party that exists in the country, Ferrer added, noting that Communism goes against Christianity in its tendency towards totalitarianism.