Two Cuban Artists have spent 4 years in prison and continue jailed for living as free men and exercising their basic rights.
Freedom /ˈfrēdəm/ noun: The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government. The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. Similar: liberty, liberation,independence, self-government, self-determination, democracy, individualism, emancipation
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo”.
Freedom is a criminal offense in Cuba. The most recent penal code in Cuba enacted in 2022 explicitly punishes the right to speak, or think as one wants if it is critical of the government. The dictatorship in Cuba is a despotic government.
Thousands of Cubans were jailed during and after the nationwide nonviolent protests that demanded change in Cuba in July of 2021. Some protesters were shot by paramilitaries, and the police. Others were killedby regime agents. Hundreds were subjected to political show trials, and sentenced to prison sentences of up to 30 years.
The “trial” of these two artists concluded three years ago today on May 31, 2022 that drew more international scrutiny than the others.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a visual artist. He was last arrested, and detained on July 11, 2021 before he could join in the 11J protests mentioned above. In 2021, Time Magazine recognized Luis Manuel as one of the 100 most influential people.
Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” is a rap singer and he has been in pre-trial detention for over a year. He was taken by the political police on May 18, 2021. He is also a two-time Latin Grammy winner for the song he co-wrote and performed with other Cuban artists in 2021 called Patria y Vida.
“Castillo’s last statement to the judge during the trial was, ‘Espero que la sentencia de usted, señora jueza, sea la de su conciencia,’ which translates to: ‘I hope your sentence, madame judge, is one dictated by your conscience.,” reported NBC News.
Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo”
On May 17, 2022 Luis Manuel delivered a message from prison. “In an audio recording from his prison cell at Guanajay on May 17, Otero Alcántara said: ‘I dream that no Cuban will be the enemy of any other Cuban. Today for these dreams I am ready to sacrifice the artist’s flesh, my artist’s flesh, and my freedom-loving spirit,’” reported PEN International.
Luis Manuel was sentenced to five years and Maykel Castillo to nine years in prison on a range of charges related to their participation in a peaceful demonstration and an artistic performance, and their criticism of President Miguel Díaz-Canel”, reported Amnesty International.
Reuters reported at the time that “the U.S. Embassy in Havana on [June 1, 2022] criticized the trial of two Cuban artist-dissidents as neither ‘free nor fair’ on social media, fueling a growing standoff over human rights just weeks after Washington moved to ease sanctions on the island nation.”
However, one need not rely on U.S. diplomats on the reality that trials in Cuba are neither “free nor fair.” The president of the Supreme People’s Court (TSP), Rubén Remigio Ferro, dispelled them in a video revealed by DIARIO DE CUBA entitled “How Justice Is Decided in Cuba” that demonstrates that the judiciary is subordinate to the Cuban Communist Party, the Council of State, and works with the secret police, and prosecutors office to ensure that acquittals are kept at a minimum.
This was a political trial and a mockery of justice.
People of good will are not remaining passive before this injustice. Protests have been carried out in Miami, Madrid, New York and elsewhere to demonstrate solidarity with both Luis Manuel and Maykel.
Earlier this month at the Oslo Freeedom Forum Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was a recipient of the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.
The Center calls on members of the international community to continue to demand the immediate release of these two imprisoned artists and human rights defenders, and the over 1,150 other Cuban political prisoners.
We are especially concerned about the plight of political prisoners Félix Navarro Rodríguez, Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, Amalio Alvarez González, Loreto Hernández García, and Virgilio Mantilla Arango. Particular attention needs to be paid toFélix Navarro Rodríguez, who last spoke with his wife expressing concern that he was dying, and officials continue to deny Sonia Álvarez the right to see her husband, and Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, was beaten on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 by officials at Correctional Center 25 1/2, located in Cabo de San Antonio, Cuba’s westernmost region, for refusing to engage in forced labor.
Alexander Diaz Rodríguez (before and now in a Cuban prison )
We also welcome the current Administration in the United States holding repressors accountable.
Please use hashtags: #FreeMaykelOsorbo, #FreeLuisMa, #FreeFelix, and #FreeAlexander to raise awareness.
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