The San Isidro Movement was born in September 2018 as a direct response to the governmental 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.” With this intent, the San Isidro Movement emerged, named after the impoverished and marginalized neighborhood of Havana where it is based.
The Movement has since committed itself to the struggle for the legalization of autonomous spaces for art and for freedom of expression in all its forms; this is despite the constant criminalization of the group and the frequent arrests and abuses suffered by its members, particularly highlighting Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo.
With just over two years of existence, the Movimiento San Isidro has challenged the Cuban government several times, which has systematically exercised repression to thwart its initiatives, including a protest performance in front of the Capitolio de La Habana, the seat of the legislative power, which became the group's first significant public act. After pressure from various instances, the Cuban government, through the Ministry of Culture, publicly declared that it would pause the implementation of Decree 349. This was largely considered a victory for the group’s members.
Since then, the 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 allegedly disrespecting the authorities.
