Cuban Dissident Begins Exile in the US

Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara stepped off a plane in Miami on Saturday to begin life in exile in the US. The 38-year-old dissident and co-founder of the opposition San Isidro Movement arrived in the US after serving five years in a Cuban prison on charges including contempt, public disorder, and desecration of national symbols, reports the BBC. He was detained in 2021 amid the island's largest anti-government demonstrations in decades and held at Guanajay prison near Havana.

"I believe the dictatorship has to end, and the Castro dynasty has to end as well," Otero Alcantara said upon arrival in Florida, per NBC News. "Because as long as there is a Castro in power, there will be corruption." The US granted him a humanitarian parole and entry into the country earlier this week, reports the AP. But Otero Alcantara's whereabouts were unknown for days in Cuba, and supporters were unsure he was actually free until he boarded a plane on Saturday.