The artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara brought his protest against the Cuban regime to two venues in New York: he spoke this Monday at a meeting held at the United Nations headquarters and, in a video shared this Tuesday, he was seen protesting in front of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN alongside María Werlau, founder and director of Archivo Cuba.
After spending five years in prison, the co-founder of the San Isidro Movement called for the support of the entire international community to put an end to the dictatorship and demanded the release of political prisoners who remain incarcerated on the island.
During the event “Cuba Libre: The oppression that Havana conceals”, called by the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations and chaired by Ambassador Mike Waltz, support was sought “not only from the Government of the United States but from all the governments of the world” and from citizens committed to human dignity.
Otero Alcántara began his intervention by rejecting the notion that the situation in Cuba can be reduced to a debate over ideological positions: "We cannot talk about government, neither left nor right. We must talk about the fact that what exists in Cuba is a dictatorship."
"Dictatorships fear anything that proposes freedoms," he stated while explaining the persecution of those who defend projects different from those imposed by those in power.
"Our crime was making art."
The artist connected his incarceration with the repression against independent creation and the right of Cubans to decide their future. “Our only crime was to create art,” he expressed while recalling the persecution against artists associated with Patria y Vida.
Otero Alcántara stated that his sentence was five years in prison, while the rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez, known as Maykel Osorbo, was sentenced to nine. He also claimed to have suffered more than 90 arrests in less than three years before his imprisonment.
"We're not talking about someone else's experience; we're talking about my personal experience," she emphasized.
During his speech, he stated that there are over 31 artists imprisoned in Cuba, a figure he attributed to the Cultural Rights Observatory. He placed these imprisonments within the context of decades of persecution against artists, activists, and cultural managers.
He also recalled the Black Spring and denounced the harassment against Christian content creator Anna Bensi.
Harassment reaches families
Otero Alcántara stated that reprisals against opponents also affect their families. He reported that his 16-year-old son remains in Cuba and that they intend to force him to join the military service.
The artist questioned the use of young recruits to suppress protests and stated that they are pressured with threats of imprisonment if they refuse to act against other citizens.
He also challenged the official narrative regarding the free nature of education and healthcare. He reported that access to and treatment within these institutions are conditioned by individuals' political affiliations.
In discussing his prison experience, he described the psychological suffering of confinement and the importance of letters, phone calls, and the support of friends to endure.
"Why do you have to put me in prison for five years, away from my children, away from my mom, away from everyone, just because I want a different project?" he questioned.
Otero Alcántara stated that over a thousand political prisoners remain incarcerated in Cuba for expressing their ideas or aspiring to a different political and economic system.
"Cubans are dying from the lack of freedom," he warned. "From the lack of everything, but above all from the lack of freedom."
Act of repudiation at the United Nations
The meeting brought together opponents, activists, former political prisoners, and experts to address repression, corruption, and allegations of forced labor in Cuba. Among the participants was José Daniel Ferrer, founder of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba.
The delegation of the Cuban regime, led by Ernesto Soberón, staged a repudiation event against the participants. The videos circulated by Ferrer and later by Mike Waltz capture shouts of "terrorists," "liars," and "out with terrorists from the UN."
In the recordings, Soberón can also be heard accusing the American representative in English: "You are a liar, Mr. Waltz," while other members of the group echo the disparagement.
In sharing new images this Tuesday, Waltz denounced that a "mob" of Cuban diplomats had harassed political prisoners while they were filming. The ambassador supported their testimonies and stated that they were sharing "the hard truths that the world needs to hear."
"Let them go," in front of the Cuban mission
In the video shared this Tuesday, Otero Alcántara and María Werlau protested in front of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations holding signs that said "Down with the dictatorship" and "They should go."
"It may seem like a minor issue, but this is important. We can't afford to waste a minute. Every minute we lose is one more minute of dictatorship," the artist expressed from the doors of the diplomatic representation.
There, he called for freedom for Maykel Osorbo and for all Cuban political prisoners once again.
Werlau questioned the resources allocated to the diplomatic apparatus while the population faces basic shortages. He stated that Cuba has 47 diplomats accredited to the United Nations and accused the regime of using that presence to influence, buy support, and blackmail in favor of its interests.
"When in Cuba there is not even enough to collect the trash, nor an aspirin in the hospitals," he reproached.
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