(MENAFN) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a private meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday with Cuban opposition figure Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, according to the State Department.

During the closed-door discussion, Rubio "expressed his admiration for Ferrer’s courage and resilience in the face of the Cuban regime’s oppression, threats to his life, and brutal treatment of him and his family," as stated in an official release.

The top U.S. diplomat reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to supporting the Cuban people in their "pursuit of democracy, prosperity, and fundamental freedoms."

According to the department’s statement, "He emphasized that advocacy by Jose Daniel Ferrer and other political dissidents like him remains critical to the island’s pro-democracy movement and pledged continued U.S. support for efforts to promote accountability for the Cuban regime’s human rights abuses."

Ferrer Garcia, a long-time opposition leader who has been jailed several times — including for his role in the 2021 protests — departed Cuba on Monday following a formal request made by the U.S. government.

Officials in Havana stated that his release and subsequent relocation to the United States followed "an exhaustive evaluation by the prosecutor’s office of Ferrer Garcia’s legal situation" and was determined by the particular conditions of his case.

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