Just two weeks after arriving in Miami following five years of political imprisonment, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara published a tribute on Instagram this Sunday to the Cuban rapper Chocolate MC and his song "Bajanda," which he described as a generational anthem against the Cuban regime.
“El Choco, the King of Reparto. Despite the mistakes and everything that has happened in his life, his BAJANDA marked an entire generation and also became an anthem against the Cuban dictatorship,” wrote the co-founder of the San Isidro Movement on his social media account.
The post, accompanied by the hashtags #SOSCuba, #EnCubahayUnaDictadura, and #LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos, garnered over 1,000 reactions and 82 comments within a few hours.
The images that accompany the publication correspond to a poster of a concert by Chocolate MC in his early days —his real name is Yosvani Sierra Hernández— at the Círculo Social El Ferretero in Havana.
"Bajanda" was released in 2018 and became one of the most viral hits in Cuban urban music, even earning a gold record.
In 2021, amid the protests of July 11 —the largest in Cuba in decades— Chocolate MC released "Bajanda 2" with a direct political message: "Díaz-Canel, you're going down."
The artist then declared that his music and his genre were "available to the Cuban people", in a statement that aligned him with the cause of the protesters suppressed by the regime.
However, since his arrival in Miami, the artist's personal journey became tumultuous: he was arrested multiple times between 2024 and 2025, facing charges that included solicitation of first-degree crime, armed robbery, and death threats.
In 2026, the Miami-Dade prosecutor's office offered him a 12-year prison deal, which he rejected, although he ultimately accepted a plea agreement in March of that same year that sentenced him to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of probation.
It is precisely that complicated story that Otero Alcántara acknowledges with the phrase "despite the mistakes and everything that has happened in his life," before emphasizing the cultural and political significance of "Bajanda."
Otero Alcántara was released by the Cuban regime on July 18, 2026 and arrived that same day in Miami under the condition of permanent exile, after serving a five-year sentence for his involvement in the protests of July 11.
Since his arrival, the activist has resumed his public presence with statements and posts that maintain his critical stance against the Cuban dictatorship.
"I will continue fighting; that is my mission," affirmed Otero Alcántara upon his arrival in Miami, a phrase that encapsulates the attitude with which he has approached his new chapter in exile.
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