Mexico City, Mexico — Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a Cuban artist and prominent opposition leader, was released by the Cuban government on Saturday after five years in prison and sent into exile in the United States.
The dissident finished his sentence on July 9, but remained in the custody of political police until his humanitarian parole request was approved by U.S. authorities. He then flew to Miami.
The artist arrived at Miami International Airport and was welcomed by a crowd of friends, fellow activists and admirers chanting the national anthem.
In his first statements to the press he said: “Everyone who can help us, please do your part to help make Cuba free. One minute of work is one minute less of dictatorship.”
Before arriving, he had announced his plan to stage a performance in the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, a sacred place for the Cuban community in South Florida.
The performance consisted of reassembling a broken Our Lady of Charity, Cuba’s patron saint and a powerful symbol of unity for the islanders.
“There was a line of people waiting to approach him and the table where the Virgin was. There were between 100 and 200 people, from all generations. It was a space for him to meet up with friends, the press, and people who didn’t know him but came to see him, hug him, and talk to him. It was very moving,” Salomé García, a Cuban activist who pressed for years for Otero’s release, told Latin America Reports.
Otero Alcántara was arrested on July 11, 2021, amid the biggest nationwide protests since 1959.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for public disorder, contempt and desecration of national symbols. The sentence was the culmination of a long history of arrests and police harassment due to his political activism.
The activist was initially set to be released on July 9, but after that date came and went, activists and opposition media began denouncing his imprisonment, calling it a forced disappearance.
García said that two days before ending his jail sentence Otero Alcántara was pulled out of prison and moved to one of many State Security houses on the outskirts of Havana.
According to the activist, he was taken directly from the house to the airport, skipping flight security and wasn’t given an opportunity to say goodbye to his family.
“Razones de Cuba,” a media outlet used by the Cuban authorities to attack opposition figures and expose alleged destabilization plans from the United States, claimed that Otero Alcántara was not a “political opposer or a human rights defender” but a “common criminal sentenced by the Cuban justice.”
His activism consisted mainly of artistic performances that denounced and criticized the Cuban government and its political repression.
One of the most polemic works revolved around using the Cuban flag in everyday contexts such as as clothing or a bath towel.
Featured image: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara via Facebook.
