The Cuban artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara concluded his interview with CiberCuba this Saturday with an image that encapsulates his vision of the nation he dreams of: a Cuba without an army, without enemies, and without aggressive ambitions, comparable to Costa Rica and as harmless as a manatee.
"I want Cuba to have no enemies. I want Cuba to be like Costa Rica. May we have no enemies. Nobody will attack us. We will not attack anyone. Let us be like the manatees, who have no predators," declared the co-founder of the San Isidro Movement in his first interview since exile.
The metaphor of the manatee—an ocean animal with no significant natural predators—elicited laughter in the studio and lightened the tone of the closing remarks, but the idea behind it is political and concrete: Otero Alcántara does not want Cuba to repeat the model of permanent confrontation with the United States that has characterized the dictatorship for decades.
"I don’t know how we are going to work with the biggest guy on the planet. You are crazy. I will negotiate," he joked, dismissing the logic of confrontation as a state stance.
To illustrate that proximity to Washington does not have to mean a loss of identity, he cited Mexico as an example: "Mexico, which is so close to the United States, is one of the countries with the richest culture in the world. That blend of anthropology is beautiful and so close. They have a free trade agreement and have things there. I want that political system."
The political system he supports is one where the citizen can decide freely: "I believe that a political system is one that comes to me, proposes itself to me as a Cuban citizen, and I will vote. It's not because I like them, but because I will vote for that person or not."
In the same excerpt, Otero Alcántara outlined the profile of the officials he envisions for that future Cuba, in direct contrast to the current ruling class.
" cruelty and corruption are the two most significant elements of a dictatorship: cruel and corrupt, inhumane, and lacking empathy for humanity," he stated.
In response to that, he proposes a radically different political culture: "The Cuba we aspire to is one of people who have empathy for humanity, of people who are public servants. You are accountable to the people, and the people are not accountable to you."
He also criticized the image that many Cubans have of the presidential power, associating it with material privileges—cars, airplanes—instead of public service.
Otero Alcántara arrived in Miami on July 18 after serving a five-year sentence imposed in June 2022 for contempt, public disorder, and outrage against national symbols, as part of the protests on July 11, 2021.
His release was not immediate: the State Security kept him in an undisclosed location for several days after his sentence was completed, and he finally entered the United States on humanitarian parole in what he himself described as an expulsion: "I was expelled from Cuba, and that is not right."
The reference to Costa Rica is not coincidental: that country abolished its army in 1948 and its 1949 Constitution prohibited the maintenance of permanent armed forces, becoming one of the most cited models of a democracy without an army in Latin America.
The interview, conducted by Tania Costa, concluded with a message from Otero Alcántara to his followers: "We are connected, family. We continue. Long live the San Isidro Movement. Long live a free Cuba."
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