HAVANA, Cuba.- “For their activism under the repressive Cuban regime,” Cuban artists and activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel Osorbo) will receive this May 4 the 2022 Freedom Prize, which is awarded annually by the NGO Freedom House .
“As we face enormous challenges to freedom around the world, it is an honor to celebrate the incredible courage of this year’s honorees in standing up to tyranny,” said Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz in a press release. released by the organization.
Castillo Pérez, winner of two Latin Grammy awards for the musical theme ‘Patria y Vida’, was arrested at his home on May 18, 2021 by State Security officers; He is currently in the Kilo 5 prison, in the province of Pinar del Río, and faces a possible sentence of 10 years in prison for the alleged crimes of attack, public disorder and escape of prisoners or detainees.
For his part, Otero Alcántara was arrested during the massive anti-government protests on July 11 of last year; He is in the maximum security prison of Guanajay, province of Artemisa, facing a prosecutor’s request for seven years of deprivation of liberty for the alleged crimes of incitement to commit a crime, aggravated contempt and public disorder.
Both leaders of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) have a delicate state of healthaggravated in prisons due to lack or inadequate medical care.
“Despite repression and setbacks, the human desire for freedom grows stronger and stronger. Its champions around the world, like Maykel, Luis Manuel and their brave compatriots who last year staged the largest pro-democracy demonstration in Cuba since 1959, need the support of democratic powers and international organizations if they want to prevail. Freedom House expresses its solidarity with the Cuban people, supporting their quest for freedom for as long as it takes to achieve the rights and freedoms that all people deserve,” Abramowitz added.
The awards gala will take place this May 4 at the Mayflower Hotel, Whashington, DC, where the art curator and MSI member, Anamely Ramos, will accept the award on behalf of the artists.
“When Luis and Maykel began to make art and express how humble people lived in Cuba, many tried to dissuade them. It was not easy to evade time and time again the invitations to desist. It was not easy to arrive, based on insistence and faith, where they have arrived. The Cuban regime has them imprisoned, but they have been free for a long time. They can lock up their bodies, but not their voices,” Ramos said.
Similarly, the NGO will present the 2022 Leadership Award to Carl Gershman, founding president of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), who led the organization for almost 40 years.
Gershman “has been a tireless and fierce advocate for freedom for four decades” and, “under his leadership, the National Endowment for Democracy has become a powerful bulwark of support for human rights defenders and other activists fighting for freedom.” freedom around the world, and a symbol of Americans’ bipartisan commitment to the cause of global democracy,” Abramowitz said.
For more than 80 years, Freedom House has worked to promote democracy and freedom around the world. Since 1943, the Washington DC-based NGO has recognized outstanding leaders who uphold those values.
Some of the winners in previous editions of the Freedom Prize have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the playwright and first president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. Previous recipients of the Leadership Award include: then US Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Bob Corker and Lindsay Graham, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
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