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 sunrise, health officials hauled him into a government hospital.His fellow dissidents state Otero Alcántara was shot for treatment contrary to his will and thatthey have not heard from him,other than through videos published by Cuba`s social media.
Cuban health officials said, if he had been confessed, Otero Alcántara didn`t appear to have been deprived of water or food and on Tuesday said he`s drinking and eating, raising the question of why he remains hospitalized and incommunicado.In one of those movies which was released, Otero Alcántara seems in great health, joking with a hospital secretary whilst affirming”that I am likely to keep demanding my rights as an artist.”Cuban health officials state Otero Alcántara is stillundergoing testing and has been treated willingly.While the Cuban government grapples with the economic consequences of the coronavirus and rougher US sanctions, Otero Alcántara and his little set of tech-savvy”artivists” are a source of frustration for officials around the communist-run island.In tweets and movies uploaded into social media, Otero Alcántara along with other members of the San Isidro Movement have recorded their effort in real time against official censorship and the Cuban authorities and safety officials which frequently shadow their every move.”We are connected,” is a regular refrain and hashtag in his messages, a reference to the recent arrival of mobile internetto the country, which has enabled many Cubans to bypass social press and speak directly with the rest of the world and their fellow Cubans.
Some Cuban officials claim thatthe self-taught Otero Alcántara is not actually a performer, which speaks to his assertion that government bureaucrats should not determine what qualifies as art on the island.Sometimes Otero Alcántara has threatened to drive a wedge between the authorities and Cuban artists, who lately have enjoyed a unique status that enabled them to criticize the authorities, albeit indirectly, and lawfully earn hard currency by selling their work to tourists and consumers abroad.In November, authorities arrested Otero Alcántara and supporters during a hunger strike, alleging they had violated health constraints set up to block the spread of the pandemic.Within hours, several hundred Cuban artists and pupils staged a rare sit-in protest beyond the Cuban Ministry of Culture and a few of the island`s best-known cultural figures lent their support to Otero Alcántara and greater freedom of expression.
Cuban officials immediately released Otero Alcántara and maintained he was a part of a US”soft coup” against the island.”The show is quite like people staged on other events by other mercenary groups and puppets in the support of the U.S. government,” a post stated in the Cuban communist party newspaper Granma about Otero Alcántara days following the protest. “The new series, hailing from Washington and Miami, is a part of plans for subversion against Cuba.”But Otero Alcántara, an Afro-Cuban millennial who lives in a downtrodden area of Old Havana that tourists seldom venture into, does not fit the traditional image of an anti-Castro militant fighting to return the island to the times prior to the revolution. And he`s especially adept at leveraging the obstacles Cuban officials throw athim as a form of performance art that generates more attention because of his movement.While his activism, so far, does not seem to be an existential threat to the Cuban authorities, it`s nonethelessproved 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 slogan”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 immunity, has received five million viewpoints on YouTube.In April, when police surrounded his home, he put in an exhibition at which he sat restrained with a garrote around his throat.After he accused State Security agents of seizing his artwork, Otero Alcántara demanded $500,000 in compensation and said he had been, again, going on a hunger strike.”I will fight to the last breath because of my artistic freedom,” he wrote in a popular message. “If my body dies, I expect it will be a spark to the liberty of Cuba.”When Otero Alcántara had been taken to the hospital in May, doctors released a statement stating the activist”showed no signs of adultery,” trying to throw doubt on his hunger strike, but said he would stay”under monitoring.” But save one video where he briefly speaks, he has not been heard from and his supporters say they`ve been obstructed by police from watching him in person.
As Cuban officials attempt to accommodate into Otero Alcántara`s new brand of activism, the government runs the risk of threatening potentially enhanced relations with the Biden administration, which so much is moving gradually on participating with the island.”Like all Cubans, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara deserves to be treated with respect and dignity,” the US Embassy in Havana submitted on Twitter. “We have seen reports that he`s in hospital and thathis state is steady. We urge the authorities to protect his well-being in this difficult moment.”Some Cuban artists assert that if greater liberty of expression were allowed, the strain with the musicians and state would ease. “Authorized protests. Democratic socialism. Along with the authorities protecting people who exercise their faith,” he continued.But top Cuban officials warn thata harsher crackdown could be on the horizon.”To the mercenary lumpen who earn money off of everyone`s fate, to people who ask for an invasion, to people who always offend with deeds and words,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a televised address in April while accepting the powerful post of head of the Cuban communist party,”understand that the patience of these people has limits.”