» Executive Officers

Javier de Céspedes
Directorio co-founder and President

Javier has traveled to more than 30 countries in Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Asia to generate international support for the Cuban civic resistance.

In his travels, Javier has met with government officials, legislators, journalists, civic organizations, and students, informing the citizens of these nations about human rights abuses in Cuba and the state of the internal resistance.

In October of 1998, he presented a video, filmed in Cuba, of Mothers of political prisoners asking the world for solidarity, to more than 500 human rights activists during the 3 rd International Human Rights Conference held in Warsaw at the Polish Parliament, officially expanding Directorio's Operation Boitel to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

In July of 2002, Javier hosted the highly successful visit to Miami of the architect of the most successful transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe, former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar. He also traveled to Cuba, managing to meet with leaders of the internal opposition and sign the "Agreement for Democracy" in Havana's historic National Capitol building.

Born and raised in Mexico city, he earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a Minor in Economics, and a MBA with concentration in International Business from Saint Thomas University in Miami, Florida. This is Javier's second term as president of the Directorio, a labor of love he carries out in addition to his responsibility as president of a privately-held business consulting firm in Miami.



Orlando Gutierrez Boronat
National Secretary

Orlando was born in Havan a , Cuba in 1965. He has a PhD in Philosophy of International Studies from the University of Miami. He has a Master's Degree in Political Science and Bachelor's Degrees in Communications and Political Science from Florida International University. He teaches Political Science and International Relations courses at Florida International University and Barry University.

Dr. Gutierrez is co-founder and National Secretary of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, “Directorio,” one of the most distinguished organizations for attaining and international support and solidarity for the democratic movement on the island. He is the coauthor of “Steps to Freedom,” an annual publication of the Directorio that documents the growing civic movement in Cuba.

He is also the author of “La República Invisible,” which takes an inside look at the Cuban exile community from the perspective of a younger generation and proposes new strategies to produce change on the island, and "Cuba and the Terror Coalition," a report exploring the ties between the Castro regime and terrorist organizations. In addition, Orlando has spoken on Cuba at academic, government, and non-profit institutions throughout the U.S. , and has traveled worldwide lecturing on the Cuban resistance.



Janisset Rivero-Gutierrez
Adjunct National Secretary

Janisset is a founding Directorio member. Janisset has worked extensively engaging directly with opposition groups in Cuba, relaying their messages to the international community and coordinating humanitarian support for them. She is co-author of Steps to Freedom, a Directorio annual report that documents the opposition movement's actions of protest against the totalitarian regime.

In 1994, Janisset initiated Operation Boitel, a campaign that consisted of travel to other countries to generate support for the opposition in Cuba. For the following two years, she took part in trips to Bolivia, Mexico, and Chile, where she shared information with students, activists, and the press.

In March 2002, Janisset testified before the Inter-American Commission of the Organization of American States and presented a detailed report on human rights violations in Cuba during the previous year. Similarly, in April 2002, she spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Commission, one of only 2 Cuban exiles who were able to testify. For several years now, the Directorio has participated in lobbying efforts in Geneva to ensure that dissidents are represented and that their cases are reported.

Born in Camagüey, Janisset left Cuba when she was 14 and lived for several years in Venezuela, earning a bachelor's degree in communications and advertising from the Instituto Universitario de Nuevas Profesiones in Caracas. She is currently working on a master's degree in Spanish literature at Florida International University.

Directorio Democrático Cubano
P.O. Box 110235
Hialeah, Florida 33011
Tel. 305-220-2713
info@directorio.org

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