Cuban dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara has gone into exile in the US after leaving Cuba, where he served a five-year prison sentence. The Cuban activist, who is 38, arrived in Miami after his release and was greeted by supporters at the airport.
Otero Alcántara leads the San Isidro Movement, or SIM, a group of artists, journalists and intellectuals that has pushed for free speech and democracy in Cuba. He was arrested in 2021 during the country’s largest anti-government protests in decades and later held in Guanajay prison, a maximum-security facility near Havana.
His location had been unclear in recent days while Cuban authorities kept him at an undisclosed place and the United States approved a parole request. At the airport, supporters sang the Cuban national anthem as Otero Alcántara raised his hand in the shape of the letter L, a symbol tied to the word “Libertad,” or freedom.
After arriving, Otero Alcántara told journalists he believes the dictatorship and the Castro dynasty must end. He said corruption will continue so long as a Castro remains in power. Cuban authorities have accused SIM of receiving funding from Washington and of being used to undermine the state, allegations the movement denies. Members of the group say they have faced repeated pressure from security forces and, in some cases, arbitrary detention.
