Activists, former members of the San Isidro Movement, and members of the Cuban exile community gathered this Saturday at Miami International Airport to welcome Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose flight from Havana took off several hours late and was scheduled to land around 5:10 PM.
Several images of the group of Cubans waiting for Otero Alcántara were shared on Facebook by activist Oscar Casanella.
The Cuban regime released Otero Alcántara on the condition of permanent exile, a pattern it has systematically applied to high-profile opponents to remove them without allowing them to remain active within the island.
The American Airlines flight from Havana was scheduled for 1:00 PM, but it did not take off until approximately 4:05 PM, as confirmed by journalist Javier Díaz in a live broadcast from Terminal D of the airport.
The delay was not accidental: the person in charge of the United States Embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, waited since 10 in the morning to hand the passport to Otero Alcántara, but the Cuban authorities did not take him to the airport until the last moment.
"We received confirmation very late that he was already on the plane. It was truly our major concern because until the last minute, Luis Manuel was not at the airport in Cuba, and we didn't know if they were going to allow him to travel," stated Anamely Ramos, an activist and close figure to the San Isidro Movement, who coordinated the reception in Miami.
The approval of the individual humanitarian parole with USCIS was confirmed on Friday, July 17, the only available option for Cubans since the Trump administration canceled the collective program in March 2025.
Otero Alcántara spent five years in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay, where he undertook more than 10 hunger and thirst strikes, resulting in documented physical aftereffects, including kidney damage.
"He is going to arrive very changed. Luis Manuel went on more than 10 hunger and thirst strikes; there are consequences, consequences for his kidneys," warned a Cuban activist interviewed at the airport.
His sentence officially expired on July 9, but the regime kept him detained. On July 7, he was taken out of Guanajay without notifying his family or his lawyers, which prompted a habeas corpus appeal by Cubalex and the activation of Urgent Action AU No. 2357/2026 by the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances.
Due to security reasons, the airport authorities planned to take him out through a different door than usual, following the precedent set by the arrival of José Daniel Ferrer in October 2025.
Otero Alcántara's first act in Miami is filled with symbolism, as he plans to go directly from the airport to the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre at 6:30 in the evening to leave an offering of gratitude.
"He never wanted to go anywhere else, not even to eat, nor to anything; he said it was straight to the airport for the hermitage, because he wanted to make that thanksgiving offering there and gather with the people there," Ramos explained.
From Cuba, she brought with her a broken virgin as a symbol of the reality she leaves behind: "Just like many of us. Just like Cuba."
Ramos acknowledged the joy of the moment, but also its shadow: "Knowing that he will be safe is truly a joy. And at the same time, of course, there is always a part of sadness. Maykel could not be here at this moment," referring to the rapper Maykel Osorbo, sentenced to nine years and transferred to Guanajay on July 11, who remains incarcerated alongside hundreds of political prisoners from the 11J.
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