Agents of State Security took artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara from the maximum-security prison in Guanajay on Tuesday at around five in the afternoon, and since then, his whereabouts are completely unknown. This was confirmed by his friend and activist Yanelys Núñez in an interview with Tania Costa on CiberCuba, where she warned: “Until we have first-hand news, we consider him to be missing.”
The transfer took place two days before his sentence was set to expire, which was for a full five years (the usual deduction of two months per year was not applied), established for July 9, 2026 by the People's Supreme Court of Cuba.
Núñez emphasized that Otero Alcántara has not contacted anyone since the moment of his transfer. "He has not communicated with his family, he has not contacted any friends, he is not in El Cerro, where his family lives, he is not in San Isidro, he is not at the home of any close acquaintances, and, of course, this is our concern," he stated.
The information about the transfer arrived through other inmates housed in Guanajay, as more than a month ago the regime cut off international calls as punishment for interviews and texts published in widely circulated media, including The New York Times.
When asked who carried out the transfer, Núñez was straightforward: "The State Security, that's all they've told me." The activist rejected the notion that the situation could be considered a covert release.
"It cannot be normalized that the regime releases a person from prison, from political detention, and then makes them disappear, allegedly sending them to a protocol house, and that we accept this as normal. Luis remains under the regime's rules and, of course, he is still in danger," he stated.
Núñez summarized the gravity of the moment with a powerful statement: "Close to having his sentence extinguished, Luis is taken, disappeared, and confined to an unknown location."
Regarding the works that Otero Alcántara created during his confinement, Núñez revealed that the regime prohibited him from taking his drawings out during the five years he spent in prison. Only at the beginning was the series of Clowns able to be rescued, which was later exhibited in Miami. The rest—many drawings on cardstock created with very basic materials—remained withheld.
"Luis was afraid that when his release arrived, he wouldn't be allowed to collect some of these drawings, but according to what I've been told, he was indeed able to gather some of them," the activist noted.
Otero Alcántara's environment has also consulted the organization Cubalex about what legal actions to take regarding the disappearance, aiming to set a precedent for another act committed against the artist.
Meanwhile, Núñez revealed that for several weeks they have been managing a specific parole process so that the artist can travel to the United States.
"We know there is no other possibility for Luis Manuel within Cuba," he explained, urging the relevant authorities to expedite the process so that Otero Alcántara can "secure his safety."
The transfer took place on the same day that the United States Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, displayed a photograph of Otero Alcántara during a session in front of the Cuban delegation, denouncing his imprisonment and noting that his sentence was set to expire in two days.
Amnesty International recognizes Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara as a prisoner of conscience and demands his immediate release. On July 5, the Cultural Rights Observatory of Cuba issued an alert regarding the decline in his health, adding urgency to the calls for him to be immediately transferred to his home and allowed to communicate freely with his family.
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