The Office of Affairs of the Western Hemisphere of the US Department of State is pronounced in the case of the artivist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
Miami, United States. – The Western Hemisphere Affairs Office of the United States Department of State He denounced this Wednesday, in Xthe situation of the artivist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara“Arrested by the Cuban regime for expressing his opinion and convicted after a fraudulent trial.”
The entity also criticized Havana for denying medical attention to Otero Alcántara “while her health status continues to deteriorate in prison.”
“We are determined to put an end to the oppression of the tyrannical regime of Cuba against the Cuban people and political prisoners,” concluded the Western Hemisphere Affairs Office.
The publication places the international focus on the state of the artivist imprisoned in the maximum security prison in Guanajay, in the province of Artemis.
On September 9, the Cubalex Legal Information Center denounced that Otero Alcántara was going through “a critical health situation” following “an epidemic outbreak within the prison.”
“Activist Yanelys Núñez informed Cubalex that on September 9, during a phone call, Luis Manuel told him that Chikungunya, fever, diarrhea and a strong decay. In addition, he pointed out that, as a sign of protest, he resigned from the family visit that corresponded this month,” said Cubalex.
The NGO added that the political prisoner “remained a week without communicating, which increased concern for its state of health in a context of constant harassment, abuse and inhuma prison conditions.”
Cubalex linked the aggravation of health risks to the structural conditions of the prison system. “The prisons in Cuba are focuses of overcrowding and unhealthiness that facilitate the spread of diseases and expose people deprived of liberty to serious health risks, without access to medicines or adequate medical care.”
The entity held the authorities for the integrity of the artivist: “We warn that the Cuban regime is responsible for the life, health and integrity of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and of all people under their custody.”
In a comment to that same publication, the organization framed its complaint in broader state obligations on human rights and environmental conditions in imprisonment: “The lack of political will of the Cuban State is still evidenced to guarantee human rights. In this case the right to a healthy environment, which also directly relates to the right to the health of all persons deprived of liberty and especially the political prisoners that would not be there.”
Otero Alcántara has been imprisoned since July 2021 in Guanajay, sentenced to five years for the alleged crimes of “outrage to the national symbols”, “contempt” and “public disorders.” Various organizations have indicated it as a symbol of civic resistance and Amnesty International declared it prisoner. Human Rights Watch and Pen International have several times their immediate release.
In May 2025, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) awarded the Václav Havel International Prize to creative dissent during the Freedom Forum Oslo. Although he could not attend, his message recorded from prison was disseminated at the ceremony: “Thank you for this award and light beings who stop to listen to my voice, which is the echo of millions that suffer and shout against the Cuban dictatorship yesterday, today and always.” He added: “Between personal and collective suffering, I feel a privileged at this time of national darkness. A light breaks the darkness and summons me to continue fighting for the other. I ask you to help us and accompany us in our struggle.”
