Cuba: Diaspora Reacts to Ferrer García’s Release  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released over the weekend.  Diaspora bloggers comment on this most recent development.
On Friday, the situation appeared as if nothing would change.  The former “Group of 75″ prisoner had already been imprisoned for close to a month and had gone on a hunger strike to protest his incarceration.  Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter wrote a post about “the courageous Ferrer García family”, which gives some valuable background to his case:
The Castro regime wanted to execute José Daniel Ferrer García in 2003 requesting the death penalty in a show trial but the international outcry caused them to back down and sentence him to a 25 year prison sentence instead. After the untimely and sinister death of Cuban Lady in White founder, Laura Inés Pollán Toledo on October 14, 2011 the threat to José Daniel's life cannot be underestimated. Like Laura Pollán,  José Daniel has a nonviolent strategic vision and an ability to mobilize and organize people combined with great courage.
Since the latest detention of José Daniel Ferrer García on April 2, 2012, his brother Luis Enrique has organized a campaign for his release and is tweeting both from his own account and his brother’s twitter account to raise awareness and solidarity.
Please be vigilant with regards to the plight of José Daniel Ferrer García and speak up for him because his life may very well depend on it. After 24 days in detention, Cuban officials have yesterday finally made known that they plan to accuse José Daniel of ‘public disturbances.’
Soon, news broke that Ferrer García had decided to suspend his hunger strike and activity aimed at expediting his release was increased: Pedazos de la Isla posted a detailed account of “some of the many Cubans who reside behind bars in a prison cell for defending human rights and freedom in Cuba”, adding:
Let us demand their immediate release!
Ferrer García's release appeared to happen soon afterward: Uncommon Sense reported yesterday that:
Cuban opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released from jail on Sunday, almost a month after his most recent arrest.
But, the blogger, not wanting to appear overly optimistic, added:
Ferrer, one of Cuba's most active opposition leaders still faces charges of ‘instigating, directing and financing public disorder’ in eastern Cuba. No trial date has been set.