The Observatory of Cultural Rights and the Cuban activist Anamely Ramos reported this Tuesday that the United States processed and approved a humanitarian parole for the rapper and political prisoner Maykel Castillo Pérez, known as Maykel Osorbo, who remains incarcerated in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay.
According to the statement, the migration authorization was managed parallel to the one approved for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, his colleague from the San Isidro Movement, who arrived in Miami last Saturday after five years of imprisonment, forced into exile by the regime as a condition for regaining his freedom.
"We would like to inform you that, along with the approved U.S. parole for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a similar one was processed and approved for the benefit of Maykel Castillo Pérez," stated the Observatory and Ramos in their publication.
They explained that the management is based on the certainty that their arbitrary imprisonment has a political origin and has violated their human rights, as well as their right to freedom of expression and artistic creation.
Unlike Otero Alcántara, Osorbo has not been released: he is serving a nine-year sentence imposed in June 2022 on charges of assault, resistance, contempt, public disorder, and defamation of institutions, in retaliation for his activism and for being a co-author of "Patria y Vida," the anthem of the protests on July 11, 2021. His sentence does not end until 2030.
This Tuesday it was also revealed that he received his first visit in Guanajay, where he was transferred from Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Río, without prior notification to his family.
During that meeting, the artist confirmed that he was placed in the area known as "la Incrementada," exactly the same cell that Otero Alcántara had occupied just days before.
The movement occurred just three days after Luis Manuel was released from that prison, a maneuver that Cubalex described as deliberate psychological torture employed by the Cuban political police against dissidents.
"Maykel also shared that he was allowed to bring his belongings into this new confinement space," the post specifies.
In May, State Security agents offered Osorbo the option to go into exile; he accepted, but the regime did not fulfill it. He was also not included in any of the pardons announced by the Cuban authorities.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared his detention arbitrary and politically motivated in its Report No. 78/26, recommending the annulment of his conviction and his immediate release. Amnesty International recognizes him as a prisoner of conscience.
The Observatory and Ramos concluded their statement with a direct demand: "We reiterate the demand for the immediate release of Maykel Castillo Pérez and once again denounce the instrumentalization of the Cuban prison system against artists, activists, and critical voices that confront the Cuban Government."
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