Prominent Cuban dissident arrives in US after release

By Patrick Oppmann, CNN

Havana (CNN) — Prominent Cuban dissident and performance artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arrived in Miami on Saturday following his release from Cuban detention, according to his supporters and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A Facebook page created by his family and friends showed a photo of Otero Alcántara with a slight smile, his Cuban passport in hand, aboard a flight from Havana to Miami.

“Now Luis Manuel is free,” his supporters wrote, announcing his release.

Rubio said in a statement that Otero Alcántara “arrived in the United States after years of unjust imprisonment by the illegitimate Cuban regime.”

“The regime’s fear of everyday Cubans speaking the truth of living under communism and constant repression was evidenced by their cowardice in imprisoning Otero Alcántara,” Rubio said. “For daring to imagine a free Cuba, he was harassed, detained, and imprisoned time and again but today, he is in exile.”

Human rights groups considered Otero Alcántara one of the highest profile political prisoners on the island. He was a thorn in the side of the Cuban government, which disputed his credentials as an artist and accused him of stirring up dissent against Cuba’s communist leadership.

According to his social media page, Otero Alcántara is expected to hold an event in Miami on Saturday evening with supporters following his arrival.

“Since early 2023, Luis has accepted exile as the only way to continue his work as an artist and activist, following the relentless repression he has endured,” his supporters said on Facebook.

“State Security left him no other option for release from prison.”

Before Otero Alcántara left Cuba, a US embassy official told CNN that the embassy had been pushing for his release.

The Cuban government has not yet commented.

Otero Alcántara has been the highest-profile dissident jailed in Cuba since the July 11, 2021, protests over Cuba’s lack of freedoms and worsening economy.

Before his arrest in 2021, Otero Alcántara and other members of his San Isidro Movement used social media to document their campaign against official censorship and the Cuban police and security officials that often shadowed their every move.

His protests and hunger strikes were a source of frustration to officials and led to multiple detentions.

In addition to being a critic of the Cuban government, Otero Alcántara is an internationally acclaimed performance artist. He shared a Grammy win for the song “Patria y Vida” (“Homeland and Life”) that blasted the Cuban government’s failures and repression.

The-CNN-Wire
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