Social networks were filled this Friday with condolences and messages of recognition for Cuban writer and journalist Carlos Alberto Montaner, who died in Madrid after suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, his family said.

Died at the age of 80, of which more than 60 outside Cuba, Montaner was one of the most respected voices of the Cuban exile, not only because of his devotion to freedom in his native land, but also because of his intellectual and personal gifts.

The author has been living in the Spanish capital since 2022, where he died “peacefully” and surrounded by his loved ones this Friday.

The son of a journalist and a teacher, Montaner initially sympathized with the Cuban Revolution, learning of Fidel Castro’s communist ideology, but would soon join the efforts of the Rescate Revolucionario group, against that trend.

Minutes after the death of the Cuban opponent, one of the most critical voices in exile, was announced, hundreds of users shared their grief on social media.

Among them, former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, who highlighted his “very unfortunate departure” in a tweet.

“Constant and diligent writer of Cuban and Venezuelan abuses. He was a relentless educator of the values ​​of democracy. It will be very necessary,” the former president wrote on the social network.

One of the most visible faces of the social protests in Cuba in 2021, the playwright Yunior García Aguilera, described his countryman as “one of the most lucid, profound and devoted Cubans to freedom”.

“Thank you maestro, it was a privilege to have your thoughts and your work,” said the artist in exile in Spain.

For his part, the former mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, also in exile in Madrid, assures that Montaner “was an exceptional human being who dedicated his life to the defense of democratic principles.”

“He did it for the Cuba that gave birth to him and that caused so much longing in him. Also for Venezuela, that’s why we never lacked your words of solidarity,” he said.

From Latin America came messages like that of the Dominican Minister of Industry and Trade, who “deeply” regrets the departure of his “good friend”.

“Journalist, writer and great defender of freedom and democracy, who left a great legacy. Rest in peace,” added the Dominican.

For his part, the former ambassador of Nicaragua to the Organization of American States (OAS) and in that case surprisingly condemned the Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, also expressed his condolences and recalled when Montaner supported him after singling out the president.

Today on Twitter, he said of Montaner that he always gave a “vote for the freedom of Cuba and Nicaragua.”