Artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara were on day eight of a hunger strike protesting what he said was a campaign of Cuban authorities harassment against him before dawn, health officials transported him to a government hospital.His fellow dissidents state Otero Alcántara was taken for treatment against his will and thatthey have not heard from himother than through videos published by Cuba’s social media.
Cuban health officials said when he was confessed, Otero Alcántara did not seem to have been deprived of food or water and on Tuesday said he’s eating and drinking, raising the question of why he remains hospitalized and incommunicado.In one of the videos that was released, Otero Alcántara appears in great health, joking with a hospital administrator whilst affirming”I am likely to keep demanding my rights as an artist”Cuban health officials state Otero Alcántara is stillundergoing testing and is being treated voluntarily.While the Cuban government grapples with the economic impacts of the coronavirus and rougher US sanctions, Otero Alcántara and his small group of tech-savvy”artivists” are a source of frustration for officials on the communist-run island.Back in tweets and videos uploaded to social websites, Otero Alcántara and other members of the San Isidro Movement have documented their campaign in real time against official censorship and the Cuban police and security officials that often shadow their every movement.”We are connected,” is a regular refrain and hashtag within his messages, a reference to the current advent of mobile to the nation, which has allowed many Cubans to circumvent social media and communicate directly with the rest of the planet and their fellow Cubans.
Some Cuban officials claim thatthe self-taught Otero Alcántara isn’t really an artist, which speaks to his assertion that government bureaucrats shouldn’t decide what qualifies as art on the staircase.At times Otero Alcántara has threatened to push a wedge between the authorities and Cuban musicians, who in recent years have enjoyed a unique status that allowed them to criticize the authorities, albeit indirectly, and lawfully earn hard currency by selling their work to tourists and customers abroad.In November, police arrested Otero Alcántara and fans during a hunger strike, alleging they had violated health constraints put in place to stop the spread of the pandemic.Within hours, several hundred Cuban artists and students staged a rare sit-in protest outside the Cuban Ministry of Culture and some of the island’s best-known cultural figures lent their support to Otero Alcántara and greater freedom of expression.
Cuban officials quickly released Otero Alcántara and claimed he was a part of a US”soft coup” against the island.”The series is very similar to those staged on other events by other mercenary groups and puppets at the service of the U.S. government,” an article stated in the Cuban communist party newspaper Granma about Otero Alcántara days following the demonstration. “The new series, hailing from Washington and Miami, is a part of strategies for subversion against Cuba.”However, Otero Alcántara, an Afro-Cuban millennial who lives in a downtrodden area of Old Havana that tourists rarely venture into, does not fit the conventional image of an anti-Castro militant fighting to return the island to the days before the revolution. And he’s especially adept at leveraging the obstacles Cuban officials throw athim as a kind of performance art that generates more attention because of his movement.While his activism, so far, does not appear to be an existential threat to the Cuban authorities, it has proved unnerving to officials.Otero Alcántara appeared in a music video for its song”Patria y Vida” or”Fatherland and Life,” a drama on the revolutionary motto”Fatherland or Death,” that is the way Fidel Castro finished his speeches. The video for the song, which has become an anthem for anti-government resistance, has obtained five million views on YouTube.Back in April, when police surrounded his house, he put in an exhibition where he sat restrained with a garotte about his neck.After he accused State Security representatives of seizing his art, Otero Alcántara demanded $500,000 in settlement and stated he was, again, going on a hunger strike.”I shall fight to the last breath because of my artistic freedom,” he wrote in a popular message. “In my body dies, I hope it’s going to be a spark to the liberty of Cuba.”When Otero Alcántara was taken to the hospital in May, physicians released a statement saying the activist”revealed no signs of adultery,” attempting to throw doubt on his own hunger strike, but said he’d stay”under monitoring.”Cuban state-run websites have published regular updates on Otero Alcántara, a rare acknowledgement of all anti-government dissent. But save one video where he briefly speaks, he has not been heard from and his fans say they’ve been blocked by police from seeing him in person.
As Cuban officials attempt to accommodate to Otero Alcántara’s new brand of activism, the government runs the risk of endangering potentially improved connections with the Biden administration, which so far is moving slowly on engaging with the island.”Like most Cubans, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” the US Embassy in Havana submitted on Twitter. “We’ve seen reports that he’s in hospital and thathis condition is steady. We urge the authorities to protect his well-being in this challenging moment.”Some Cuban artists argue that if greater liberty of expression were allowed, the strain with the state and artists would facilitate. “Licensed protests. Democratic socialism. And the police protecting those who exercise their faith,” he continued.But top Cuban officials warn thata harsher crackdown could be on the horizon.”Into the mercenary lumpen who make money from everybody’s destiny, to those who request an invasion, to those who always offend with words and deeds,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated in a televised speech in April while accepting the strong post of head of the Cuban communist party,”understand that the patience of the people has limits”