The unjust five-year sentence of Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara ended on July 9, but he has not been released. His whereabouts remain unknown after State Security agents removed him from Guanajay Prison on Tuesday, July 7 and took him to an undisclosed location. His relatives say they were not informed, and human rights organizations have classified his current status as a forced disappearance.
Cuban activist Anamely Ramos received a call on July 9 from an unidentified number and heard Otero Alcántara on speakerphone, apparently surrounded by security agents, asking about the status of his request to enter the United States. When she asked where he was, he said he could not say.
Otero Alcántara was arrested in July 2021 on trumped-up charges after joining historic demonstrations across the island. Cuban authorities are facing pressure to free him not only from activists, but also from US government officials, who frequently cite his case as proof of the regime’s human rights abuses. On Monday, July 6, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz held up a photo of the artist while confronting Cuban officials during a debate over the US embargo against Cuba.
Cuba is enduring its worst humanitarian crisis in decades, shaped by the Trump Administration’s current “maximum pressure” campaign against the Cuban government and years of economic mismanagement by the regime. Prolonged power outages are common, public transportation is virtually nonexistent, streets are lined with garbage, hospitals are collapsing, and food prices have surged.
The Cuban government appears unwilling to let Otero Alcántara stay on the island, likely out of fear that he could rally supporters and help spur fresh protests against a weakened government nearing collapse. Since the July 2021 demonstrations that led to his arrest, the Cuban government has also intensified its persecution of influencers who criticize it on social media.
What remains uncertain is where Otero Alcántara could be sent if he is expelled. The artist made his willingness to accept exile in the US public in 2024, and an application for humanitarian parole, which I helped prepare, was submitted to the US Embassy several weeks ago. Although dozens of articles about him have appeared in the foreign press in recent weeks, the United States has not yet responded. For now, Otero Alcántara appears to remain a hostage of the Cuban government.
Former political prisoner Hamlet Lavastida says the regime is using the same method it used on him. He told me that Otero Alcántara is likely being held in one of State Security’s “protocol houses,” where political prisoners are prepared for departure and escorted to foreign embassies to collect visas before being put on planes. Lavastida and Cuban activists warn that Otero Alcántara is especially vulnerable in this situation and could face psychological pressure and threats while he remains in captivity.
While imprisoned, Otero Alcántara had the support of fellow prisoners and was able to call family and friends to report on what was happening inside the prison. He now waits for his release in limbo, cut off from the outside world. Supporters in the US and Europe continue to hold public demonstrations demanding his freedom, but his fate, along with that of more than 800 political prisoners in Cuba, remains unresolved for now.
