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The United States Embassy in Cuba publicly joined this Saturday in the call from Freedom House demanding the immediate release of the artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez, known as Maykel Osorbo, as well as all political prisoners on the island.
Through its official account on X (@USEmbCuba), the diplomatic mission retweeted the message published on Friday by Freedom House and added: "We join this call from Freedom House for the release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez, as well as all other political prisoners. #Todos".
Freedom House had publicly acknowledged the courage of both artists: "Today we recognize the courage of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez, who used their art to push back against the Cuban government's restrictions on artistic freedom and expression—and were unjustly imprisoned for it. We reiterate our call for their immediate release, and the immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba. #FreeThemAll."
Otero Alcántara, founder of the San Isidro Movement, was arrested on July 11, 2021 during the historic anti-government protests and sentenced in June 2022 to five years in prison on charges of "offense to national symbols," "disobedience," and "public disorder." He is serving his sentence in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay, where his health has deteriorated significantly.
In December 2025, he began a voluntary hunger strike as a form of protest, and in February 2026 he reported being used as a bargaining chip by the regime, while expressing his willingness to go into exile to continue his activism.
Maykel Osorbo, co-author of "Patria y Vida" —the anthem of the protests on July 11 that won two Latin Grammys in 2021— was arrested on May 18, 2021, and sentenced to nine years in prison. He is serving his sentence in 5 y Medio prison, in Pinar del Río.
In September 2025, he shaved his head and eyebrows in protest against prison abuses, and by the middle of that year, he still had five years left to serve.
The statement from the Embassy comes in the context of a sustained diplomatic pressure. Last Friday, an official from the State Department met in Havana with Berta Soler, leader of the Damas de Blanco, to demand the release of political prisoners.
The ambassador Mike Hammer has intensified an active "street diplomacy" in the early months of 2026, meeting with the families of detainees and issuing public statements of condemnation.
The regime, however, has closed the door to any concessions. In February 2026, the deputy minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío explicitly dismissed the release of political prisoners in the context of the dialogues with the United States. Cuba holds between 750 and over 1,192 political prisoners according to various human rights organizations, and neither of the two artists was included in the release of 553 prisoners that the regime presented as a humanitarian gesture in January 2025.
Amnesty International recognizes Otero Alcántara as a prisoner of conscience and demands his immediate release, while Freedom House has been including both artists in its international campaign since 2023.
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