The United States demanded that Cuba treat the hospitalized artist, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, and declared Amnesty International a “prisoner of conscience” “with dignity and respect”.

Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara (EFE / Yander Zamora)

On Friday, the United States expressed concern that the Cuban regime was trying to “With dignity and respectTo the dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero AlcantaraAnd the He was held without contact for nearly three weeks in a hospital in Havana, While Amnesty International declared him a “prisoner of conscience”.

We ask @ LMOAlcántara and all Cubans to be respected and treated with dignityThe US embassy in Havana indicated on Twitter. Washington “He expressed his solidarity with the Cuban people and his concern that the government would treat them with dignity and respect“, he added.

How can a hospital patient not have the right to visit or phone?question.

The Cuban regime accuses Utero Alcantara, 33, of attempting to manipulate the political situation, with its funding and administration by the US National Democratic Institute.

Contestant member San Isidro Movement (MSI)A group of opposition university artists, Otero Alcantara was transferred on May 2 to a hospital in Havana on the eighth day after announcing his hunger strike..

With this protest He demanded the return of the work that the security men had stripped him of s He demanded an end to police harassment Against him and artistic freedom.

Last November, MSI members and supporters barricaded themselves into the home of Otero Alcántara in San Isidro, resulting in the emergence of A demonstration by 300 artists and intellectuals to demand freedom of expressionSomething unprecedented on the island.

By announcing Friday to Otero Alcantara “Prisoner of conscience“for the third time, Amnesty International urged “President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and the other Cuban authorities to release him.”In a statement posted on the organization’s website.

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Dissident artist ”He was deprived of his freedom just to express himself peacefully, and he must be released immediately and unconditionallyErica Guevara, Director of Amnesty International for the Americas, said.

Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, leader of the San Isidro Movement (MSI).  EFE / Yander Zamora / Archive
Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, leader of the San Isidro Movement (MSI). EFE / Yander Zamora / Archive

The NGO denounced that since his transfer to the hospital, the artistUnder the supervision or control of state security officials and highly restricted visits from their immediate familiesAside from that, “He doesn’t seem to have access to his phone or the outside world“he added.

Amnesty had already summoned Otero’s supporters on Thursday to write a letter to Diaz-Canel demanding his release.

This was confirmed by other activists and close to Otero Alcantara He does not have a phone and only some relatives can visit him at Calixto Garcia HospitalCastro Police patrols have been guarding the entrance for several days.

It is practically in a state of kidnappingBecause they do not communicate with the outside like anyone else who is hospitalized, ”the independent journalist said Eliana Hernandez, Who claims that he was under house arrest for a month due to his anti-regime activities.

dancer Shapley Diaz, One of the people closest to Otero Alcantara, admitted his concern: “His relatives say he’s fine, but I went to the hospital and they wouldn’t let me pass. I think they’re hiding something good. They won’t let me see it or see me.”

As for the other people who came to see the dissident, on the other hand, They were caught by the police or fined at the door of the hospitalAccording to the activists.

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(With information from AFP and EFE)

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