Jorge Antonio Fernández Torres, director of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba (MNBA), received on Saturday the Cross of Officer of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, an honor awarded by King Felipe VI of Spain, despite his stance on cultural censorship in Cuba.
The Spanish ambassador in Cuba, Francisco Javier Hergueta Garnica, presented the award during an event held at the Cuban Art Building of the museum in Havana, in the presence of the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Grau, according to a report by the Cuban News Agency.
"It is an award we grant for tangible merits," affirmed Hergueta, who described Fernández Torres as "a great manager" and an expert in painting recognized outside of Cuba, and emphasized the collaboration between Spain and the institution.
Fernández Torres expressed gratitude for the recognition and mentioned "the work of the diplomatic mission with vulnerable sectors," without providing details, and celebrated the "extensive collaboration with Cuba in various fields."
The distinction contrasts with the questions raised about the director of the MNBA regarding his stance on cultural censorship in Cuba and the institution's response to the demands of artists who are critical of the regime.
The first dates back to 2016, when the artist Tania Bruguera denounced, in a text published by Diario de Cuba under the title "On How Censorship Becomes Normalized," that Fernández Torres attempted to equate censorship in Cuba with that exercised by institutions in other countries during a discussion at the museum itself, "justifying and taking out of context" the Cuban cases.
According to Bruguera's account, when questioning that comparison, he received from the director "a frontal and personal attack," focused on his alleged professional failures rather than engaging with his arguments.
The second episode occurred in May 2021, when a group of artists demanded that the museum remove their works while Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement, remained detained and disconnected at the Calixto García hospital after being forcibly transferred during a hunger strike.
They signed the letter: Bruguera, Sandra Ceballos, Tomás Sánchez, Marco Castillo, Celia and Yunior, and Reynier Leyva Novo, who demanded the right to prevent the public communication of their works while the activist was detained.
The MNBA rejected the request with a statement that omitted Otero Alcántara's name and any reference to his demands for freedom: "The Museum does not accept a request that does not align with the service vocation of our institution nor with the interest of the public it serves."
Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years in prison and, after serving his full sentence, left Cuba for Miami on July 18, 2026, in a forced exile imposed by the regime as a condition for regaining his freedom.
The presence of Alpidio Alonso Grau at the ceremony adds another layer of controversy: the Minister of Culture was captured in images hitting a journalist in front of the Ministry of Culture during an artists' protest in January 2021, and his tenure has been marked by systematic accusations of cultural repression.
The Royal Order of Isabel the Catholic, established in 1815, recognizes extraordinary civil merits that benefit Spain or strengthen its international relations; the Officer’s Cross is one of its intermediate degrees.
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