SerpApi.Org
July 20 (UPI) -- Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara said he cannot return home after arriving in exile in the United States this weekend.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio renewed his call Monday for the Cuban government to release more than 700 political prisoners amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana.
Otero Alcántara, 38, arrived in Miami on Saturday after spending five years imprisoned in Cuba on charges of desecrating national symbols, contempt and public disorder.
His arrival was confirmed by Rubio, who said the artist had been imprisoned for challenging the Cuban government.In his first public remarks since arriving in the United States, the founder of the San Isidro Movement said prison changed the way he sees people, but acknowledged that exile carries a high personal cost.
"Five years later, I am more human. Prison is a place where you can look into the eyes of people who, even after committing the worst crimes, are still human beings," he said in videos published by Caraota Digital.
However, he said that being forced to leave Cuba does not represent true freedom.
"I have been expelled from Cuba. This is not right. ... I can't see my son. I can't return to my home. It's just not right," he said.
Otero Alcántara gained international prominence via a collective of artists and intellectuals that called for greater freedom of expression in Cuba and that, according to Amnesty International, has been the target of constant persecution by Cuban authorities.
He was arrested while attempting to join the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021, and was sentenced to five years in prison a year later.
After confirming Otero Alcántara's arrival in the United States, Rubio said on X that the artist's imprisonment was the result of challenging "the Marxist tyranny of the Cuban regime," and he demanded the immediate release of "the more than 700 political prisoners unjustly detained" on the island.
Rubio said President Donald Trump's administration will continue to support those seeking greater political freedoms in Cuba.
