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The arrest and trial of Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara have initiated a campaign on the platform Avaaz.org to demand his release.
The activist was arrested on Monday in Havana to prevent the holding of a press conference, which aimed to inform about the organization of the independent Biennial of Havana.
This initiative was launched alongside art historian Yanelys Núñez Leyva in response to the Cuban government's decision to postpone the 13th Havana Biennial due to "the economic situation in the country following Hurricane Irma."
Luis Manuel was taken to the police station at Cuba and Chacón, in Old Havana, amid a large police operation.
In addition, the police authorities raided the artist's home and seized "old and damp bags of cement."
The activist will be tried next Friday for the alleged crime of "receiving stolen goods", which involves concealing or hiding people or items that may be considered as part of a crime.
Below, we reproduce in full the content of the petition to release Manuel Otero.
On the afternoon of Monday, November 6, 2017, police forces led by political police conducted a search at the home of artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist was detained to prevent a press conference where he would announce the organization of the Independent Art Biennial in 2018. This initiative was taken by the artist after cultural and political authorities decided to suspend the official call for the Havana Biennial and move it to 2019. This has been a disproportionate response from the government towards an artist.
Statement regarding the arrest and institutional harassment of the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in Cuba
On the afternoon of Monday, November 6, 2017, police forces led by the political police conducted a search at the home of artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. The artist was detained, and a series of unspecified belongings were removed from his home. This action is aimed at obstructing the organization of the 2018 Independent Art Biennial that Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is leading.
An initiative taken by the artist after the cultural and political authorities of the Castro regime decided to suspend the official call and move it to 2019, citing the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma.
Luis M. Otero Alcántara has created a body of work inspired by the reality of his country and highlighting its contradictions. Some of these works include The Museum of Dissent, a website that outlines and investigates political dissent throughout Cuba's history.
The initiative has been developed by creator and researcher Yanelys Núñez Leyva. The performance “Where is Mella?” through which the artist criticized the lack of historical values promoted by military entrepreneurs and foreign investors during the construction and opening of the luxury Hotel Manzana Kempinski. And the lottery “For everyone and for the benefit of a few,” organized by him and fellow artist Nestor Siré to allow a Cuban to stay at the Manzana Kempinski hotel and share their experience. All of these works have been conceived with great ingenuity and executed excellently.
This is not the first time the Cuban government has suspended cultural events, using the destruction caused by a cyclone as an excuse. In 2004, the magnificent rap festival, which had been held for many years, was shut down despite achieving the largest mobilization in its history that year. The reason was the passage of Hurricane Charley. That decision marked the decline of the event. Many rappers at the time pointed out the official double standards, which stifled an initiative from the entire Cuban people under the pretext of the suffering caused by the cyclone, while keeping cabarets and nightclubs open for foreign tourists.
In this case, it seems less plausible, as the government claims that the recovery has been a success and happily showcases a handful of wooden houses prepared for those who lost theirs. It also displays costly repairs to luxury hotels for international tourists in the keys north of Cuba, which were severely affected by the storm. Throughout this long period of decline and decay, the Cuban government exhibits an abominable consistency with its repressive nature. Similarly, cultural institutions are revealed not as facilitators of artistic action, but as tools of repression.
A few days ago, a statement was released by the executive of the Association of Plastic Artists of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), linking the initiative of Luis M. Otero Alcántara to unscrupulous actions aimed at an abstract division characteristic of the official political discourse.
The procedure is well known; the denunciation by the cowards paves the way for the political police to intervene and destroy independent initiatives. Abel Prieto, as Minister of Culture, Miguel Barnet, as president of UNEAC, and Lesvia Vent-Dumois, as president of the executive committee of the Association of Plastic Artists of UNEAC, share responsibility for what is happening to Luis M. Ótero Alcántara.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. Furthermore, we call for the return of his possessions and the cessation of any interference with the independent Biennial organized by an artist of whom Cuba should be proud.
Havana, November 7, 2017
Cuban artists for the liberation of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
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