MADRID, Spain.- Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was on hunger strike for more than ten days in the maximum security prison of Guanajay, in the province of Artemisa. According to the activist and art curator exiled in Madrid, Yanelys Núñez, since the official page According to Otero Alcántara’s Facebook account, during that period the artist did not receive adequate medical attention, which has generated concern among his relatives.
Núñez, who is close to the artist, explained that she received this information through a phone call on Tuesday in which the artist explained to her that his silence was due to this hunger strike. The leader of the San Isidro Movement was incommunicado for 20 days.
According to Núñez, the artist is in the process of recovery, although the full effects of the strike the status of his health is still unknown.
“It makes us extremely sad to know this in this context of perpetual risk and helplessness,” said the activist. During the protest, Otero Alcántara urinated blood, which has increased concern for his physical and mental well-being.
Núñez concluded his complaint by reiterating Otero Alcántara’s determination: “Luis continues to appeal to peaceful protest as a way of demanding his freedom. His body and mind, deteriorated by three years of unjust imprisonment, place him in this state of desperation and resistance.” And he assured: “We will continue to demand his freedom and that of the rest of the Cuban political prisoners.”
On July 11, on the third anniversary of the historic popular protests of 11J, Luis Manuel Otero sent a message to the people in which he emphasized your commitment with the fight for freedom and justice in Cuba. “I am super-connected even if it costs me my own life. And even if nothing… we are going to die one day, at 20, at 30, at 60, at 100 years old, we are going to die, so it is better to spend this whole life for the sake of others, for the sake of our children, for the sake of this country still being worthwhile,” he declared.
The opposition leader was sentenced in June 2022 to five years in prison for the alleged crimes of “insulting the symbols of the homeland”, “contempt” and “public disorder”. Since his imprisonment, his figure has been the subject of international recognition. In 2021, the prestigious American magazine Time chose him as one of the most influential people of the year, and in 2022, he was awarded the Prince Claus Impact Awardawarded by the Dutch fund of the same name, in recognition of his artistic work and his courage.
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