Cuba’s most famous political prisoner, the visual artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, was expected to be flown into forced exile on Saturday, more than a week after completing a five-year prison sentence for “defiling” the Cuban flag.
Mr. Otero, 38, was held for more than a week after finishing his term on charges of “public disorder,” and defaming national symbols following his arrest during tumultuous island-wide anti-government protests in July 2021
A U.S. Embassy official in Havana confirmed to The New York Times that Mr. Otero had been issued a humanitarian visa and would be traveling to Miami on Saturday with a diplomatic escort.
The move came after supporters filed a motion in a Cuban court demanding to know his whereabouts.
Mr. Otero is the co-founder of the San Isidro Movement, a group of artists, journalists and academics that fought for civil liberties in Cuba. He is considered the highest-profile of more than 1,300 political prisoners in Cuba.
The San Isidro Movement, named after an impoverished neighborhood in Havana, was effectively crushed in the wake of demonstration on July 11, 2021 after its leaders were arrested or forced into exile. The demonstration led to more than 1,000 arrests as the police beat unarmed protesters.
Mr. Otero helped compose “Patria y Vida,” a song that denounced Cuba’s lack of freedom. A video gained more than 17 million views on YouTube and became the anthem of the street protests, winning two Latin Grammys.
Mr. Otero’s arrest and conviction were denounced by human rights groups as an example of Cuba’s repression of dissent, despite constitutional guarantees that protect free speech.
He was charged with “defiling” the Cuban flag in some of his performances, which is forbidden according to Cuba’s penal code, which restricts how national symbols can be displayed. The state newspaper, Granma, published a photo of him in a bathroom, shirtless and brushing his teeth, wrapped in the Cuban flag like a bath towel.
The Cuban government has accused him and his movement of being “trained and supported” by the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
In an essay published by The Times in April, Mr. Otero said the continued repression was a sign of government weakness. “What this tells me is that the government is still scared of people like me, who have not been afraid to challenge the state’s authority,” he wrote.
In the essay Mr. Otero explained that his art was designed “to address the contradictions between my government’s high-minded revolutionary rhetoric and the everyday repression, racism and scarcity Cubans endure.”
While Mr. Otero’s release is welcome by activists his forced departure means the loss of an important critical voice inside Cuba at a time of deepening economic and political crisis, according to analysts.
“It involves forcing someone to leave the very country where they want to bring about change, and that always brings a sense of sadness and distress,” said Alina Barbara López, a Cuban historian and opposition activist. She spoke by phone from her home in Matanzas where she is under house arrest accused of anti-government activities.
Mr. Otero was widely admired and “left a lasting mark on the cause of democratizing Cuba,” said José Daniel Ferrer, a former political prisoner who was released last year and also forced to go into exile in Miami.
That kind of connection with his community always frightens the communist regime,” he said. “The regime does not want him on the streets under any circumstances.”
Arrests of dissidents in Cuba have continued this year despite talks with the United States to resolve the decades-long political differences between the two countries.
Prisoners Defenders, a Spanish-based human rights group, added 32 new political prisoners in June to a list it compiles, bringing the total to 1,306. The group said this was the highest figure it has ever documented.
The Trump administration has demanded the release of all political prisoners as a condition for improved relations. Mr. Otero was released, however, not because of pressure from Washington, but because his sentence had ended.
In fact, Mr. Otero was released from prison on July 7 and illegally held in an unknown location until his visa to the United States went through, his supporters said. Human rights lawyers took the matter to Cuban courts.
Cuba denies that it holds any political prisoners. While the government passed sweeping economic measures last month, it has resolutely refused to change its political system, which is controlled by the Communist Party.
As a result, talks between Cuban and U.S. officials appear to have broken down after some initial discussions in April.
The Trump administration imposed an almost complete energy blockade of oil shipments to Cuba in late January, exacerbating a continuing energy crisis and curtailing public transport, health and education services.
Most of Havana only has two hours of electricity a day with longer blackouts in other parts of the country, leaving residents complaining that they can’t sleep at night because of the summer heat and a lack of electricity to power fans.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said during a debate on U.S. sanctions at the U.N. General Assembly in early July that Cuba’s government was to blame for the electricity shortfalls.
“Change your ways and turn the lights back on for your people,” he said.
For his part, Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, blamed the island’s economic problems on the “ruthless” U.S. embargo, accusing the Trump administration of “collective punishment.”
Frances Robles contributed reporting.
