Cuban artist Otero Alcántara receives 27,000 letters in Miami, never read during Cuba imprisonment

Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, recently exiled in Miami, received a collection of over 27,000 letters and messages of solidarity. These messages were sent by supporters globally during his five-year imprisonment in Cuba, a period during which he never physically received them.

The handover ceremony, titled 'Letters of Freedom and Solidarity,' took place at El Espacio 23, an art center in Miami where Otero Alcántara is currently an artist-in-residence. He arrived in the U.S. city on July 18 after being released from prison on the condition that he leave Cuba.

“

Even without the physical letters, in that moment of anguish, the energy and love from everyone reached me behind bars. They were the sustenance for my heart's beat and kept my faith that a better future is possible. Thank you all for so much love, you saved my life.

"Even without the physical letters, in that moment of anguish, the energy and love from everyone reached me behind bars. They were the sustenance for my heart's beat and kept my faith that a better future is possible," Otero Alcántara read from a response letter dated August 22. He expressed profound thanks, stating, "Thank you all for so much love, you saved my life."

Amnesty International's Deputy Director of Research for the Americas, Astrid Valencia, presented the letters. She explained that the messages came from the organization's annual 'Write for Rights' campaign, which selects cases needing global support. Otero Alcántara was chosen in 2022 while serving his sentence, and AI declared him a prisoner of conscience.

“

A letter can seem small, a simple gesture, but when a person is unjustly imprisoned, a letter can mean much more than a sheet of paper.

"A letter can seem small, a simple gesture, but when a person is unjustly imprisoned, a letter can mean much more than a sheet of paper," Valencia said. She added that each letter represents an individual who affirmed human dignity and refused to accept injustice as normal. Otero Alcántara described how prisoners often reread letters for years, viewing them as a reaffirmation of mutual concern and a pact of friendship in a place where genuine camaraderie is scarce.

“

Each letter represents an individual who decided to reaffirm dignity, who decided to refuse to accept injustice as normal.

Otero Alcántara, a co-founder of the San Isidro Movement, an artist collective opposing cultural censorship in Cuba, also spoke of his conviction that his release was tied to his art. He recounted describing his drawings, made in his cell and unable to be removed, to artist friends via phone, who then interpreted them externally. He considered this act of communication and resistance the true artwork.

As a token of his gratitude, Otero Alcántara gifted Amnesty International a drawing of a door he created in prison, symbolizing his search for an exit. He referred to the organization as "light within the darkness."

“

I was literally convinced that if the works didn't get out, I wouldn't get out.