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From his cell in the maximum-security prison in Guanajay, Artemisa, the Cuban artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara recently watched, through the television program Los Lucas, the music video 'Come, give me a hug' by Los Van Van, which premiered on August 2nd.
The surprise came when he recognized one of the locations in the video: the San Isidro neighborhood, specifically his own block and the surroundings of the Movimiento San Isidro (MSI), a collective he founded in 2018 that turned this corner of Old Havana into a symbol of cultural and political resistance against the Cuban totalitarian regime.
In a phone conversation with the activist Yanelys Núñez Leyva, Otero Alcántara shared that, according to an interview given by the creator of the clip, Alejandro Varela, the filming was challenging. And it did not surprise him: “Everything that happens in San Isidro is deeply surveilled, as if they want to erase the history that was made there,” he remarked.
In the video, he recognized several of his neighbors, the same ones who accompanied him for years in artistic and community actions, protected him from arrests, offered him food, and participated in performances and activities against censorship.
The close bond between the artist and his neighborhood was key in the construction of the MSI, a project that, through visual arts, music, and poetry, openly challenged Decree 349 and state repression, and has cost the artist and the dissident rapper two Latin Grammy awards for the song 'Patria y Vida', Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo.
The activities of the MSI —hunger strikes, exhibitions, debates, and concerts— were suppressed with police operations, internet cuts, and arrests. The most notable episode occurred in November 2020, when the headquarters of the movement was violently raided, an event that sparked national protests and international condemnation.
From prison, Otero Alcántara asked for Varela's gesture of showcasing San Isidro and its people to be publicly acknowledged. He also sent a message to Los Van Van, whose video captured the essence of the neighborhood that shaped his life and work.
"San Isidro is not just a place, it is a living memory of resistance," stated the young man from the prison where he has been since the massive protests on July 11, 2021 (11J).
Sentences and prison conditions of the MSI leaders
On July 11, 2021, during the anti-government protests that shook the island, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was arrested in Havana while trying to join the demonstrations.
Months earlier, in May of that year, authorities had also arrested rapper and MSI member Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo, amid a wave of repression against independent artists and activists.
In June 2022, Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years in prison for "insulting national symbols," "contempt," and "public disorder." In the same judicial process, Osorbo received a nine-year prison sentence for "contempt," "assault," and "public disorder."
Both have reported inhumane conditions: prolonged isolation, constant threats, illnesses without adequate medical attention, beatings, physical violence, and psychological torture.
They have also resorted to multiple hunger strikes as a form of protest, which has severely deteriorated their health. Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider them prisoners of conscience and demand their immediate release.
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