The whereabouts of Cuba’s most prominent political prisoner, musician and artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, remained unknown for more than a week after he completed a five-year sentence for disorderly conduct. Human rights advocates have condemned the incident as a forced disappearance.
Otero, 38, co-founded the San Isidro Movement, a collective of Havana-based artists, journalists, and academics advocating for civil liberties. He was detained during the widespread anti-government protests on July 11, 2021, alongside more than 1,000 other demonstrators. He later contributed to the Latin Grammy-winning anthem “Patria y Vida” (“Homeland and Life”), which became a rallying cry for the Cuban protest movement.
He was convicted of disorderly conduct and contempt for incorporating the Cuban flag into his performance art. According to a Cuban Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, his sentence was set to expire on July 9.
However, on July 7, Otero was forcibly transferred from the maximum-security Guanajay prison in what a legal filing described as a “large-scale military operation” and taken to an undisclosed location. The move was detailed in a habeas corpus petition—challenging the legality of his detention—filed by Cubalex, a human rights organization composed of exiled lawyers.
Laritza Diversent, Cubalex’s executive director, stated that State Security offered Otero freedom in exchange for exile, an offer he accepted. “Luis Manuel’s sentence ended,” she said. “They should have released him. Keeping him deprived of his liberty and withholding his location constitutes an illegal deprivation of liberty.”
Diversent argued that the failure to release him meets the legal criteria for an “enforced disappearance,” as state agents are holding him against his will. In response, the United Nations Committee Against Enforced Disappearances activated an “urgent action,” formally requesting that the Cuban government disclose Otero’s location.
“You cannot keep a person imprisoned or restrict their movement after they have served a court-ordered sentence,” Diversent emphasized.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry in Havana and the Cuban Embassy in Washington did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The habeas corpus petition was filed on Monday. When legal representatives visited a Cuban courthouse on Thursday to retrieve the government’s mandatory 72-hour response, they were turned away, according to Diversent.
She suggested the government was deliberately stalling until Otero secured a U.S. visa, noting that authorities appear unwilling to allow him to remain free in Cuba. To accept the exile arrangement, Otero required a U.S. humanitarian visa, an application his supporters say was submitted weeks ago.
Coco Fusco, a New York-based writer and artist who assisted with the application, confirmed it was filed with the U.S. Embassy in Havana weeks prior. “It’s clear the government wants to expel Luis, but the U.S. hasn’t granted him a humanitarian visa yet,” she said. “You should ask the State Department why they’re taking so long.”
Four hours after this article was initially published online, a U.S. State Department official announced that Otero’s visa had been approved and that he was expected to fly to Miami on Saturday.
The U.S. Embassy had publicly urged his release on social media two days after his sentence concluded. While it remains unclear if the visa delay directly caused the extended detention, Otero’s supporters insisted he should have been freed regardless of his immigration status.
“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” said Anamelys Ramos, an exiled activist serving as Otero’s spokeswoman.
In a social media video, Ramos revealed she had spoken to Otero by phone. He inquired about his visa status but said he could not disclose his location. “I have spoken to him twice, but always through a call from State Security, from an unknown number on speaker phone, and with them listening, of course,” Ramos said in an interview. “He sounded like a person trying to remain calm.”
The context of his detention coincides with heightened bilateral pressure. The Trump administration halted oil shipments to Cuba in January, demanding the release of political prisoners and significant political and economic reforms. While Havana announced a major economic overhaul, it has largely resisted U.S. demands.
In an essay published in April, Otero described the atmosphere inside the prison. “I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors within the prison: that the state won’t free me, that the island is running out of food and fuel, that President Trump is going to bomb Cuba,” he wrote. “Even though the Trump administration has demanded the release of Cuba’s political prisoners, I don’t know if I will be allowed to go free, or what will happen to me or my country.”
David C. Adams contributed reporting from Miami.
