Félix Navarro Rodríguez (born ) is a Cuban farmer, teacher, and dissident from Perico,

Matanzas Province Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. Among Cuban provinces, ...

. On 18 March 2003, he was arrested as part of the Black Spring, a general crackdown by the Cuban government on pro-democracy groups. He was sentenced to fifty years in prison at

Guantánamo Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...

, leading

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

to name him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. In October 2005, he joined a hunger strike with other imprisoned dissidents, leading students at

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

to stage a fast as a show of solidarity. Navarro remained in prison until 2011. He and Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia were released on 23 March 2011 as part of an agreement between the Cuban government and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. They were the last two prisoners of the Black Spring to be released. In a statement to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, Navarro announced his intention to pursue the "continue the peaceful, not violent struggle" for democracy. On 24 July 2012, he was one of dozens of activists arrested in Havana at the funeral of dissident

Oswaldo Payá Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (29 February 1952 – 22 July 2012) was a Cuban political activist. A devout Catholic, he founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1987 to oppose the one-party rule of the Cuban Communist Party. He attracted ...

and the U.S. criticized the arrests, with the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

describing them as "a stark demonstration of the climate of repression in Cuba." The dissidents were freed the following day. Navarro was arrested again following protests in 2021 but was released in January 2025 as part of an agreement between the Cuban government and the United States. He was rearrested in April 2025 after his paroles was revoked.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro Rodriguez, Felix Living people 1950s births Year of birth uncertain Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cuba 20th-century Canadian farmers Cuban dissidents Cuban farmers Cuban prisoners and detainees People from Matanzas Province Black Spring detainees Political prisoners in Cuba