Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara cannot return to Cuba to see his son; U.S. demands release of more than 700 political prisoners there.
The facade of Terminal 3 at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana is shown on Saturday. Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara departed for the United States after being granted humanitarian parole following a five-year prison sentence on the island, Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara said he cannot return home after arriving in exile in the United States this weekend.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed his call Monday for the Cuban government to release more than 700 political prisoners amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana.
Otero Alcántara, 38, arrived in Miami on Saturday after spending five years imprisoned in Cuba on charges of desecrating national symbols, contempt and public disorder.
His arrival was confirmed by Rubio, who said the artist had been imprisoned for challenging the Cuban government.
After years of unjust imprisonment for challenging the Marxist tyranny of the Cuban regime, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has arrived in the United States. The Cuban government's brutal crackdown against its own people five years ago is yet another reminder of the unique misery and…— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 18, 2026
In his first public remarks since arriving in the United States, the founder of the San Isidro Movement said prison changed the way he sees people, but acknowledged that exile carries a high personal cost.
“Five years later, I am more human. Prison is a place where you can look into the eyes of people who, even after committing the worst crimes, are still human beings,” he said in videos published by Caraota Digital.
However, he said that being forced to leave Cuba does not represent true freedom.
“I have been expelled from Cuba. This is not right. … I can’t see my son. I can’t return to my home. It’s just not right,” he said.
Otero Alcántara gained international prominence via a collective of artists and intellectuals that called for greater freedom of expression in Cuba and that, according to Amnesty International, has been the target of constant persecution by Cuban authorities.
He was arrested while attempting to join the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021, and was sentenced to five years in prison a year later.
After confirming Otero Alcántara’s arrival in the United States, Rubio said on X that the artist’s imprisonment was the result of challenging “the Marxist tyranny of the Cuban regime,” and he demanded the immediate release of “the more than 700 political prisoners unjustly detained” on the island.
Rubio said President Donald Trump’s administration will continue to support those seeking greater political freedoms in Cuba.
