The Cuban filmmaker Ernesto Fundora revealed that Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara confessed to him over the phone, from prison, his intention to travel directly to Miami as soon as he is released, which is expected to happen this summer.
The revelation came during an interview with Tania Costa in which Fundora presented his biographical documentary about the artist and activist.
"He told me a few days ago that he is indeed coming to Miami as soon as he is released. He is coming to Miami. It’s an unfinished chapter in his career and his journey, because he now sees this as a path of spiritual and personal growth," said Fundora.
The filmmaker specified that Otero's release could occur in June or July: "We are expecting everything to happen this summer, June, July, to take place, as they should have already let him go according to what we've been told because some time should have been deducted that they have not wanted to deduct."
The Supreme Court confirmed in April that Otero's sentence extends until July 9, 2026, dismissing the appeals filed by Cubalex, which argued that the activist had already served his time, taking into account his pretrial detention and reductions for good behavior.
Fundora emphasized that Otero's plan to go to Miami is not just a personal wish: "It seems this is what he has discussed with the authorities because he tells me very emphatically, and in addition to being his desire, it is both things. It's a pact."
The decision, according to the filmmaker, is based on a pragmatic analysis of the situation Otero would face if he remains in Cuba after being released from prison.
"He knows that if he leaves the prison and stays in Cuba, look, almost no one from his movement is left. They are all out, and the others are in jail. He will be besieged, monitored, restricted, just like what happened to José Daniel Ferrer, who got out and had to be put back in."
Ferrer, leader of the UNPACU, was released in January 2025 as part of an agreement mediated by the Vatican between Cuba and the Biden administration, but his freedom was revoked just three months later, in April 2025.
Fundora also emphasized that Otero is aware that his activism will be more effective from abroad: “He knows that his activism and mission regarding Cuba can be more productive if he has the resources of a democracy, if he is in a country that is a superpower, if his message can be projected beyond the digital confinement he will experience within Cuba because they will be blocking all phones, all connectivity, everything.”
This position is not new. In February 2026, Otero had already expressed his willingness to go into exile, describing himself as "a sort of bargaining chip" in the political tensions between Cuba and the Trump administration. Additionally, the regime excluded him from the presidential pardon in April 2026, as reported by Human Rights Watch.
Otero is serving his sentence in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay, Artemisa, where he has suffered a serious decline in health and was threatened with death by State Security agents on March 28, 2026.
"He already knows that he has entered another evolutionary cycle in his career as an artist, as an activist or militant of an opposition movement; he has greater responsibility, he is moving on with another," concluded Fundora, who closely monitors the activist's situation through phone conversations from prison.
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