The Cuban artivist remained a week without communicating, “which increased concern for his state of health.”
Miami, United States. – The Cubalex Legal Information Center denounced That the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is going through “a critical health situation” in the prison of Guanajay, province of Artemisa, following “an epidemic outbreak within the prison.”
“Activist Yanelys Núñez informed Cubalex that on September 9, during a telephone call, Luis Manuel told him that Chikungunya, fever, diarrhea and a strong decay.
The organization also added that Otero Alcántara remained a week without communicating, “which increased concern for its state of health in a context of constant harassment, abuse and inhuman prison conditions.”
Cubalex attributed the aggravation of health risks to the structural conditions of the penitentiary system on the island. “The prisons in Cuba are focuses of overcrowding and unhealthiness that facilitate the propagation of diseases and expose people deprived of liberty to serious health risks, without access to medications or adequate medical care.”
The entity held the authorities for the life and integrity of the prisoner. “We warn that the Cuban regime is responsible for the life, health and integrity of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and all people in their custody.”
In a comment to his own publication, Cubalex framed the complaint in a broader signaling about state obligations in human rights and environmental conditions in seclusion centers. “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 health of all persons deprived of liberty and especially political prisoners who would not have to be there.”
Otero Alcántara remains imprisoned since July 2021 in the Maximum Security Prison of Guanajay. Cuban organizations and activists They have denounced that his only “crime” has been to exercise his right to freedom of expression through art: “A fair art. A free art. An art deeply committed to the reality of his country.”
Internationally recognized as a symbol of Cuban civic resistance, Otero Alcántara was declared a prisoner of consciousness by Amnesty International. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Pen International have several times their immediate liberation.
In May of this year, the Cuban artivist It was distinguished With the Václav Havel International Award to creative dissent, a recognition granted by Human Rights Foundation (HRF) as part of the forum for the freedom held annually in Oslo, Norway.
Although Otero Alcántara could not be at the ceremony, held within the framework of the Freedom Forum 2025, his voice resonated in the auditorium thanks to a message recorded from the maximum security prison in Guanajay, where he serves a five -year sentence. In the recording, he thanked the prize and reaffirmed his commitment to freedom and creation as forms of resistance to repression.
“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,” said the artist. 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.”
Luis Manuel Otero was arrested in July 2021, when he tried to join the peaceful protests of the 11j. He was subsequently convicted of the alleged crimes of “outrage to the national symbols”, “contempt” and “public disorders.”
