San Isidro Movement

The San Isidro Movement was established in September 2018 as a direct response to the government’s Decree 349, which threatened to penalize artistic freedom and expression in Cuba. Following the publication of the Decree, a group of artists and activists came together to engage in a series of actions aimed at “promoting, protecting, and defending full freedom of expression, association, creation, and dissemination of art and culture in Cuba, empowering society towards a future with democratic values.” It was with this intent that the San Isidro Movement was born, named after the impoverished and marginalized neighborhood in Havana where it is based.

The Movement has been committed ever since to the fight for the legalization of autonomous spaces for art and for freedom of expression in all its forms; this despite the ongoing criminalization of the group and the frequent arrests and abuses suffered by its members, among whom Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel "Osorbo" Castillo stand out in particular.

With just over two years of existence, the San Isidro Movement has challenged the Cuban government on several occasions, which has systematically repressed its initiatives. Among these was a protest performance in front of the Capitol in Havana, the seat of legislative power, which became the group's first significant public event. After facing pressure from various sources, the Cuban government, through the Ministry of Culture, publicly announced a pause in the implementation of Decree 349. This was largely viewed as a victory for the group's members.

Since then, members of the San Isidro Movement—a group with an open and flexible structure—have been active agents in the fight for change in Cuban society, supporting artists who suffer the direct consequences of the regime's repression, as well as other representative sectors of independent civil society in Cuba. Their most recent action has been a hunger strike to demand the release of Denis Solís, a rapper who has been sentenced to 8 months in prison for alleged disrespect towards the authorities.