His fellow dissidents state Otero Alcántara was shot for treatment against his will and thatthey haven`t heard from him,other than through videos published by Cuba`s state-run media.
Cuban health officials said, when he had been admitted, Otero Alcántara didn`t appear to have been deprived of food or water and on Tuesday said he is drinking and eating, raising the question of why he remains hospitalized and incommunicado.In one of the movies that premiered, Otero Alcántara appears in great health, joking with a hospital administrator whilst affirming”that I am going 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 financial consequences of this 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.In tweets and movies uploaded into social media, Otero Alcántara and other members of the San Isidro Movement have recorded their effort in real time against official censorship and the Cuban police and security officials that often shadow their every movement.”We are linked,” is a regular refrain and hashtag in his messages, a reference to the current advent of mobile to the country, which has enabled many Cubans to bypass state-run media and communicate directly with rest of the world and their fellow Cubans.
Some Cuban officials claim thatthe self-taught Otero Alcántara is not really 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 government and Cuban musicians, who lately have enjoyed a unique status that enabled them to criticize the government, albeit indirectly, and lawfully earn hard currency by selling their work to tourists and consumers overseas.In November, police detained Otero Alcántara and supporters during a hunger strike, alleging they had violated health restrictions put in place to stop the spread of this pandemic.Within hours, a few hundred unsigned artists and pupils staged a rare sit-in protest outside the Cuban Ministry of Culture and a few of the island`s best-known cultural figures voiced their support for Otero Alcántara and greater freedom of expression.
Cuban officials quickly released Otero Alcántara and claimed he was part of a US”soft coup” from the island.”The show is quite like people staged on other occasions by other mercenary groups and puppets at the service of the U.S. government,” an article mentioned in the Cuban communist party newspaper Granma roughly Otero Alcántara days after the protest. “The new series, hailing from Washington and Miami, is 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 seldom venture into, does not fit the traditional picture of an anti-Castro militant fighting to reunite the island to the days prior to the revolution. And he is especially adept at leveraging the obstacles Cuban officials throw athim as a kind of performance art that creates more attention for his movement.While his activism, so far, does not appear to be an existential threat to the Cuban government, it has nonethelessproved unnerving to officials. The video for the tune, which has been an anthem for anti-government resistance, has received five million viewpoints on YouTube.In April, when police surrounded his home, he put in an exhibition where he sat controlled with a garrote about his throat.Following he accused State Security agents of seizing his artwork, Otero Alcántara demanded $500,000 in compensation and stated he had been, again, going on a hunger strike.”I shall fight to the last breath for my artistic freedom,” he wrote in a widely seen message. “In my body dies, I hope it`s going to be a spark for the freedom of Cuba.”When Otero Alcántara had been carried to the hospital in May, physicians released a statement stating the activist”revealed no signs of malnutrition,” trying to throw doubt on his hunger strike, but said he would remain”under monitoring.”Cuban state-run media have published regular updates on Otero Alcántara, a rare acknowledgement of anti-government dissent. But save 1 video where he briefly speaks, he has not been heard from and his supporters say they`ve been blocked by police from watching him in person.
As Cuban officials try to adapt into Otero Alcántara`s new brand of activism, the government runs the risk of threatening potentially enhanced relations with the Biden government, which so much is moving gradually on engaging with the island. “We`ve seen reports that he is in hospital and thathis state is stable. We urge the police to protect his well-being in this challenging moment.”Some Cuban artists assert that if greater freedom of expression were permitted, the strain with the state and artists would ease.”These little scandals will finish the day that they legalize protests,” famed singer Silvio Rodriguez, a long-time supporter of the Cuban revolution, wrote on his blog. “Licensed protests. Democratic socialism. Along with the police protecting people who exercise their faith,” he continued.But best Cuban officials warn thata harsher crackdown may be on the horizon.”To the mercenary lumpen who earn money off of everybody`s fate, to people who request an invasion, to people who continuously violate words and deeds,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated in a televised speech in April while taking the strong post of head of the Cuban communist party,”understand that the patience of the people has limitations”
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