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The activist and art curator Anamely Ramos announced on Facebook this Thursday that she managed to speak briefly with the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who contacted her from a cell phone belonging to the State Security with an unknown number and the call on speakerphone.
"I just spoke with Luis Manuel. He called me from a State Security cell phone, unknown number, and the call was on speaker," wrote Ramos, marking the first direct sign of life from the artist since agents of the regime took him out of the Guanajay prison on Tuesday, July 7.
The reason for the call, according to Ramos, was that the agents wanted to know the status of the parole process requested for Otero Alcántara to depart for the United States.
Before answering that question, Ramos asked him how he was doing and where he was. To the first question, he replied that he was "fine," in the tone that, according to her, people use to indicate they are well "within reason, given the circumstances." To the second question, he said he couldn't disclose his location, possibly because he himself didn't know it precisely.
"Listening to Luis's voice in a moment like this is something very significant. But at the same time, it does not alleviate the repression or the violence, against him in the first place at this moment, but against all Cubans for such a long, long time," wrote Ramos.
The call comes two days after state security agents took Otero out of the Guanajay prison in a heavy operation, without informing his family or acquaintances. Since that moment, his whereabouts have been completely unknown: he has not appeared at his home in the El Cerro neighborhood, nor in San Isidro, nor at the home of any close acquaintances.
On Wednesday, July 8, agents promised the family they would take him home to El Cerro, a promise that was never fulfilled. On that same day, Ramos had stated: "Right now, Luis Manuel is missing. He is not free. He is not released. He is in the hands of State Security somewhere in Havana."
This Thursday officially marks the deadline for the five-year sentence imposed on the artist for his participation in the protests of July 11, 2021. The regime did not grant him a sentence reduction for good behavior nor did it include him in the presidential pardon of April 2026.
Ramos confirmed that the parole process to the United States is still underway and that Otero will remain in that unknown location until it is resolved. The artist's environment acknowledges that there is no other viable option for him within Cuba, and Yanelys Núñez, responsible for managing his work, had warned that the regime could attempt to send him directly into forced exile, a tactic already used against other opponents.
The case has generated significant international pressure: on Tuesday, July 7, the United States ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, displayed a photograph of Otero Alcántara during a special session of the General Assembly and stated that “his crime was being an artist”. Amnesty International recognizes him as a prisoner of conscience and demands his immediate and unconditional release.
Ramos urged the community not to jump to conclusions or speculate: "Luis needs not only our solidarity but also our responsibility."
"What we have experienced and continue to experience is not normal and it is not fair. And that is why we must cry out until the end: for complete freedom and for complete justice," he concluded.
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