Cuba: dissident artist on hunger and thirst strike
Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara during an interview at the headquarters of the San Isidro movement in Havana, April 6, 2021. REUTERS - ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI
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2 min
Dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was arrested in a poor neighborhood in Havana, then released a day after his arrest as part of an artistic performance during the Communist Party congress.
A political provocation according to the authorities.
For five days, he has been on hunger and thirst strike.
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Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara has been locked up at his home since last Saturday and has not eaten or drunk anything since, confirmed by Amnesty International.
The Cuban artist is demanding compensation, a public apology for the harassment to which he and his neighbors are victims, as well as an end to the encirclement of his house by the police.
The founder of the San Isidro movement is not on his first hunger strike since he was one of the ten artists who had locked themselves in this house for ten days last November.
They then denounced the censorship exercised by the authorities.
This new hunger strike follows
his arrest
while performing a performance on repression during the Communist Party Congress.
The police then took the opportunity to destroy several of his works.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, who had hitherto claimed compensation, now believes that he has no choice but to start this hunger and thirst strike.
Supported by another artist collective, the 27N movement, he says he is ready to die for his country.
As for the Cuban authorities, who traditionally avoid addressing these subjects, they continue to present this artist in the public media as being a mercenary in the pay of the CIA.
Dozens of activists, independent journalists and artists are complaining that police are preventing them from leaving their homes, a favorite ploy by authorities to prevent mass rallies that could lead to anti-government protests.
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