Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara


Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a Cuban performance artist and dissident, known for his public performances that openly criticize the Cuban government and its policies. A self-taught artist, Alcántara lives in the El Cerro neighborhood of Havana. Since 2018 Alcántara has been arrested dozens of times for his performances in violation of Decree 349, a Cuban law requiring artists to obtain advance permission for public and private exhibitions and performances.

Arrests

In 2017 Alcántara was arrested for "being in illicit possession of construction materials" in relation to his work as a cofounder of the #00 bienal de la Habana, an alterantive event to the official Havana Biennial.
In April 2019 Alcántara was arrested by the Cuban police during his participation in a satellite event of the Havana Biennial.
On August 10, 2019 Alcántara was arrested in Havana during part of his performance Drapeau. In the work, he wore a Cuban flag draped over his shoulders, in defiance of a 2019 law dictating how the flag could be used.
On March 1, 2020 Alcántara was arrested in Havana on the charges of defiling patriotic symbols and property damage. At the time of the arrest, was on the way to join a protest at the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television against the censorship of a two men kissing on television.