Cuban opponent Ramón Arboláez and his family released from the Arizona detention center

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The Cuban opponent Ramón Arboláez Abreu was released this Friday, along with his family, by the immigration authorities of the United States, a country to which he arrived in search of medical assistance due to his critical state of health.

Arboláez Abreu, 45, crossed the Mexican border with the US on Thursday , where he was detained at the Yuma, Arizona immigration center, accompanied by his wife Yaneisy Santana and their two children Melany and Emanuel.

According to Facebook posts by Cuban journalists Maite Luna and Daniel Benítez, after his release the opponent goes to Miami, where he will receive specialized medical attention.

The activist suffers from aggressive throat and tongue cancer, which also affects his jaw, and his situation has worsened even more in recent weeks.

For months he was stranded in Mexico, because the borders were closed due to the crisis generated by the coronavirus. On several occasions, he had applied for a humanitarian visa to the United States government , in order to enter the country and treat his illness.

Last July, the office of Cuban-American Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart processed the request for a humanitarian visa with the United States Consulate in Matamoros, so that Arboláez Abreu could receive emergency medical attention, but the authorities denied the request without the right to appeal .

In the midst of a desperate situation, this Thursday, he and his family set out to cross the border in Arizona and, after surrendering to border agents, were processed in downtown Yuma, according to lawyer Laura Jiménez, from the law firm of Willy Allen.

The activist and his family were subjected to a credible fear interview , "to determine if they were being returned to Mexico or if they could wait in the United States, pending release under parole or an asylum case," Jiménez said.

The lawyer then stated that the interview had had a positive result, so they were waiting for a deportation officer to evaluate their case and decide on their release or if they had to go before a judge .

So far the details about his release are unknown. In a second post on her FB account, the same journalist Luna assured that this Saturday Arboláez Abreu and her family would already be in Miami , and highlighted the performance of the lawyer Jiménez to achieve the release of the opponent.

Specialists from Jackson Memorial Hospital and the University of Miami had previously evaluated the opponent's case so that, when he was in the United States, he would receive medical attention at their facilities.

The Cuban activist was diagnosed with cancer in Monterrey, Mexico, where doctors prescribed chemotherapy treatment; But due to the coronavirus and the saturation of the hospitals in that city, he could not be treated.

In Cuba, Arboláez Abreu and his wife belonged to the Central Opposition Coalition and the United Antitotalitarian Forum (FANTU), led by Guillermo Fariñas .

He has assured that he and his family were persecuted by the authorities of the Cuban regime, which he accuses of having forced him to leave the country with his wife and children in 2016.