The Cuban artist and activistLuis Manuel Otero Alcántara was included in the prestigiouslist of the 100 Most Influential People of 2021, published each year by the North American magazine Time.
"The art of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, his tireless fight for freedom of expression and his uncompromising stance against autocracy reveal the power of resistance," review for Time the also Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, in charge of the presentation of the Cuban.
"Otero Alcántara is a symbol and leader of the San Isidro Movement, an influential group of artists and intellectuals who demanded greater freedoms when anti-government protests spread across the country this summer. Although he has since been imprisoned, his life, his behavior and their expression together are so powerful that they can resist the aesthetic and ethical degeneration of authoritarianism," he adds.
"Art needs courage, which he has repeatedly demonstrated. His aesthetics need a solid philosophical foundation and a strong sense of ethics; this he has also demonstrated. It is through these struggles for freedom of expression that art transcends condition of banality and mediocrity," he concludes.
Otero Alcántara is the only Latin American included among the most influential “icons” of 2021.The activist shares the category with figures such as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex; the Russian opponent Alexei Navalny; singers Britney Spears and Dolly Parton; or the athletes Naomi Osaka and Shohei Ohtani, among others.
The artistHe has been in prison since the protestsanti-government protests unleashed in Cuba on July 11. After more than two months of confinement, this Monday activist Claudia Genlui Hidalgo warned thatThe activist's life could be "in danger."
Genlui Hidalgo expressed his concernafter not receiving a phone call that both had previously agreed upon. “If I don't call you on Monday, it's because I went downhill,” the artist had told him in a conversation on September 9.
According to the activist, a relative of a detainee close to Luis Manuel told her that the MSI leader had COVID-19 and was stable, but that they did not give him a phone number because he was isolated due to the disease.
Otero AlcantaraHe was recently sent to the Guanajay maximum security prison. After the protests it was learned that he was being accused by the Cuban authoritiesof attack, resistance and contempt.
The list ofTime It began to be published in 2004 and divides one hundred prominent people globally into five categories: “Pioneers”, “Titans”, “Artists”, “Leaders” and “Icons”. Every year, prominent politicians, athletes, actors, businessmen and religious leaders, among other figures in public life, join the group.
Among those elected this year are 10 climate leaders, dozens of activists, political leaders and 54 women. The youngest was the gymnast Sunisa Lee, 18 years old, while the oldest person in this year's edition is the American president, Joe Biden, 78 years old.
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