Cuban opposition artist Otero Alcántara arrives in Miami after release

Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has arrived in Miami following his release from prison in Cuba and receipt of U.S. immigration parole.

Otero Alcántara, who was detained on July 11, 2021, during anti-government protests, landed at Miami International Airport on a commercial flight from Havana. He had spent five years incarcerated in Cuba on charges he consistently denied. The activist Anamely Ramos confirmed that the U.S. government granted Otero Alcántara humanitarian parole.

Upon his arrival, Otero Alcántara's first wish was to visit the Ermita de la Caridad (Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Patron Saint of Cuba) to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. Ramos indicated that he accepted exile in 2023 as the only path to regaining his freedom and continuing his work as an artist and activist, which led to his immigration benefit in the U.S.

Considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, Otero Alcántara was transferred from Guanajay prison just two days before his sentence was to conclude. He was convicted of continuous "contempt, public disorder, and offense to the symbols of the homeland." The activist Ramos noted that Otero Alcántara had communicated for the first time since his release on July 9 via a Cuban State Security mobile phone, though his whereabouts were previously unknown.

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al llegar a Miami, su primer deseo es visitar la Ermita de la Caridad y dejar una ofrenda de acción de gracias