One of the most prominent Cuban dissidents has gone into exile in the United States of America (USA), after leaving Cuba, where he served a five-year prison sentence, the British media outlet BBC reports today.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara (38) leads the San Isidro Movement (SIM), a group of artists, journalists and intellectuals who advocate for freedom of speech and democracy in the communist country.
He was arrested in 2021 during the largest anti-government protests in Cuba in decades and spent five years in the maximum-security Guanaja prison, near Havana.
His whereabouts in recent days were unknown, as Cuban authorities held him at an unknown location while the US considered and approved his request for conditional entry into the country.
Upon leaving the Miami airport, the 38-year-old was greeted by supporters who sang the Cuban anthem, while he formed the letter L with his index finger and thumb, symbolizing the word "Libertad", which means freedom and is a recognizable anti-government sign.
"I believe that the dictatorship must end, as well as the Castro dynasty. Because as long as there is a Castro in power, there will be corruption," Alcantara told reporters.
Cuban authorities claim that SIM is funded by Washington and that the movement is used to undermine the state, a charge its members deny. Many members say they are constantly targeted by security forces, and some say they are arbitrarily detained.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that "the Cuban government's brutal crackdown on its own people five years ago is yet another reminder of the unique misery and evil inherent in the communist system."
"Otero Alcantara's only 'crime' was that he refused to remain silent and that he demanded through his art the basic freedoms that ordinary Cubans have been denied for almost seven decades," he said in a statement.
The cases of Otero Alcantara and his colleague from the San Isidro Movement, Michael Castillo, known as "Osorbo", who is serving an eight-year prison sentence, have been a source of diplomatic tension between Washington and Havana for years.
These tensions have increased further in recent months, after the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade and sanctions on Cuba, with open threats of military intervention.
Last week, CBS, the BBC's American media partner, reported that the Pentagon was considering military options regarding Cuba, although officials it cited said the briefings did not mean any decision had been made to carry out the operation.
The US oil blockade has further exacerbated the ongoing fuel crisis, while Cubans have faced prolonged power outages and food shortages in recent months.
The US also announced in May an unprecedented murder indictment against former Cuban leader Raul Castro for the 1996 shooting down of two airliners, killing four people. Russia and China condemned the move.
Tourism has taken a major hit due to US sanctions, with fewer than 360.000 people visiting the island in the first five months of 2026, a drop of almost 60 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Onei data.
Washington warned in May that reaching a peace agreement with the Caribbean country was unlikely.
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