The arrival of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in Miami on July 19 sparked an unexpected controversy: his physical condition does not match the deteriorated image that many anticipated after five years in the high-security prison of Guanajay. The exiled Cuban journalist and writer Luis Felipe Rojas dismantles both the surprise and the ideological interpretations surrounding the case.
Rojas, interviewed by Tania Costa in CiberCuba, emphasized that the response to Otero's physical condition has two layers. The first is strategic: State Security had every incentive to protect the image of the most visible political prisoner in the country. "It's no secret that he was one of the prisoners, if not the most promoted by the international press, who made it into the pages of the New York Times. It's no secret that State Security was going to be careful about that, that they weren't going to allow him to come out deteriorated," he said.
The second layer is physiological and is supported by the journalist's direct testimony. "I have friends from the neighborhood who came out of prison after five, ten years, four years, one year, and they came out—I can say this because it's my testimony—came out heavier than they went in. Why? Because they eat a lot of carbohydrates, because they practically eat zancocho, as we Cubans say," Rojas explains, using the Cuban term to refer to a mixture of leftovers and low-quality food, combined with a lack of exercise within correctional facilities.
At this point, he mentioned that many of these political prisoners, especially the more well-known ones, receive at least 100 dollars from either friends or organizations.
Luis Felipe Rojas also explains that not all political prisoners are released under the same conditions. In the interview, they mentioned the case of an inmate who was released with cancer and in very poor health, emphasizing that circumstances vary depending on the profile of the prisoner and the regime's interest in its public image. Otero, whose case was closely monitored by international organizations such as Amnesty International, represented a high reputational risk prisoner for Havana.
Beyond the debate about Otero's physical condition, Rojas rejects the idea that Luis Manuel could be absorbed by any ideological current. "He is an artist; he is someone who, outside of prison, used his space to express what he thought, but also used his space to complete a performance that he started and has not finished. His performance is his life, his behavior, his way of expressing things," he argues.
And he warns those who try to pigeonhole him: "Whoever wants to bring him to their side, to the left, is going to—practically, they are going to be left standing there—because he is someone who will say things as he thinks, he will say them when he wants, he will say them in the way he wants, and they are not always well received."
In that same vein, boxer Yordenis Ugás publicly came out to defend Otero, accusing the Cuban regime of having deliberately crafted that image to divide the Cuban community in exile.
Tania Costa also revealed that she requested an interview with Otero for this outlet, but he sent her an audio message explaining his position. "Yesterday, Luis Manuel sent me an audio explaining that right now he needs to focus on certain things, and until he has those matters resolved, he prefers not to give interviews. He explained to me the circumstances under which he gave the interview to Martí Noticias. I understood him, and all I can say is that the doors of CiberCuba are open."
Rojas concluded his analysis with a reflection that goes beyond the debate about weight: "It is a disgrace for humanity that right now in the 21st century we are criticizing the weight of someone who has just been released from prison after five years unjustly incarcerated for expressing their thoughts."
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