A group of militants from the Mexican Communist Party stormed this Wednesday into the Centro Universitario Cultural (CUC) in Coyoacán, Mexico City, to disrupt the presentation of the documentary Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: We're Connected.
The protest began peacefully, but gradually escalated to the point of offending the participants in the event and physically assaulting Cuban filmmaker Ernesto Fundora.
The Cuban filmmaker explained that the Communist Party of Mexico itself supported the action. The media outlet La Silla Rota stated that the aim was to "disrupt" the presentation of the documentary about the Cuban political prisoner.
In one of the videos of the incident, posted by Fundora on Facebook, the insults shouted by the aggressors can be heard: "Damn worms!".
The use of the term "gusano" —a historical insult from the Castro regime towards Cubans who emigrate or dissent— reinforces the ideological connection of the aggressors with the Havana regime.
The 90-minute documentary was directed, written, and produced by Fundora. It focuses on the life and activism of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, an artist and founder of the Movimiento San Isidro, imprisoned since the protests of July 11, 2021.
The work was filmed in Cuba between 2016 and 2021. Fundora completed the documentary in Mexico City in November 2025. Its world premiere took place on February 7, 2026 at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, with additional screenings in Little Havana, the Miami Theater, and Tower Road Ranch.
The attack at the University Cultural Center occurred on the same day that CiberCuba released the documentary online, significantly increasing its dissemination.
Fundora, a Cuban filmmaker and producer based in Mexico with over 90 music videos and around 20 documentaries in his career, had revealed on May 7 that he had held three phone calls with Otero Alcántara from prison, during which the activist was closely following the negotiations regarding his possible release.
In an interview published earlier this month, the filmmaker described the incarcerated artist as "the emblem of an era."
The incident fits into a pattern of actions by groups aligned with the Cuban government abroad that aim to silence or boycott cultural and political events critical of the regime, a tactic of intimidation that has intensified in recent years against the Cuban diaspora.
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