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Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: From Prison to Forced Exile

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: From Prison to Forced Exile

Washington, D.C., July 18, 2026. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) welcomes the release of Cuban artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara after he unjustly served a five-year prison sentence for peacefully exercising his fundamental rights. However, the Institute condemns the fact that his freedom was only made possible through his departure from Cuba under the humanitarian parole program. Otero Alcántara’s arrival in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, July 18, marks yet another episode in the Cuban regime’s systematic use of forced exile against those who exercise their right to freedom of expression and defend human rights. His departure from the island does not represent an act of full freedom, but rather the continuation of a repressive policy aimed at silencing critical voices through banishment.

For years, Otero Alcántara established himself as one of Cuba’s leading voices for independent art and human rights. He co-founded the San Isidro Movement, a collective of artists, intellectuals, and activists that promotes artistic freedom and fundamental freedoms on the island. Following the historic protests of July 11, 2021, he was arbitrarily detained. Even after completing his sentence in full, the Cuban authorities kept his whereabouts secret for several days, prolonging uncertainty about his situation before ultimately facilitating his departure from the country.

Just days ago, Otero Alcántara’s works were featured in the exhibition The Invisible Prison: Imprisoned Artists in Cuba, presented at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with Race and Equality and other partner organizations. The exhibition brought together works by artists imprisoned for political reasons to expose the impact of repression on freedom of artistic creation and expression in Cuba while reaffirming the role of art as a form of resistance against authoritarianism.

“We welcome Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara’s release after five years of unjust imprisonment. However, no one should be forced to leave their country in order to regain their freedom. The forced exile imposed by the Cuban regime demonstrates that banishment remains a tool of repression against those who peacefully exercise their fundamental rights. This case once again highlights the absence of fundamental freedoms and the closure of civic space in Cuba,” said Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.

What happened to Otero Alcántara reflects a systematic pattern of repression documented by Cuban and international human rights organizations. The criminalization of dissent, arbitrary detention, harassment, surveillance, and forced exile are mechanisms used to restrict civic space and silence those who exercise and defend their fundamental rights.

Race and Equality welcomes Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara’s release while condemning forced exile as a repressive practice that is incompatible with international human rights obligations. We call on the Cuban authoritarian regime to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals arbitrarily detained for political reasons. We also urge the international community to denounce forced exile as a mechanism of political persecution and to maintain its attention on the profound human rights crisis in Cuba, demanding an end to the systematic violations committed against those who peacefully defend democracy, fundamental freedoms, and human dignity.



Five years after July 11 , we demand that fundamental rights be recognized in Cuba

Washington D. C.,  July 10,  2026 – This Saturday, July 11, marks the fifth anniversary of the historic peaceful protests of July 11, 2021, in  Cuba, better known as 11J, a day when thousands of people took to streets in the country’s 15 provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud to demand freedom, better living conditions and respect for their fundamental rights. The protests erupted amid a deep economic, social, and health crisis, exacerbated by shortages of food, medicine, and basic services, as well as by ongoing restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

According to Another Year Without Justice (2025), a report published by Justicia 11J, 1,597 people were arbitrarily detained during the July 11 protests and in the days that followed. The state’s response was marked by arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, excessive use of force, internet shutdowns, surveillance, harassment, judicial proceedings without due process, and disproportionate sentences against protesters, journalists, artists, activists, and human rights defenders.

Five years after the protests, the human rights crisis in Cuba persists and has deepened. According to records from Justicia 11J, 823 people remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons or for participating in peaceful protests (as of July 3). Among them are artists Maykel Osorbo and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose whereabouts remain unknown. In Otero Alcántara’s case, Cuban authorities transferred him on July 7 to an undisclosed location, despite the fact that his sentence expired two days later. Although he was able to communicate with activist Anamely Ramos on July 9, the authorities continue to withhold information about his whereabouts and legal status. The lack of official information further heightens concerns for his safety, well-being, and respect for his fundamental rights.

At the same time, the exile and migration of Cubans have increased significantly in recent years as a result of the repression with which the State responded to the protests, the criminalization of those who participated in them, and the worsening economic, social, and political conditions on the Island. Many human rights defenders, journalists, and activists have been forced into exile due to the constant harassment, surveillance, and threats carried out by the Cuban authorities. Among them are Leticia Ramos, a member of the Ladies in White, whom the Cuban regime prevented from returning to the country following a trip abroad for medical treatment, effectively forcing her into exile; Anamely Ramos, whom the Cuban authorities likewise barred from re-entering the country while she was abroad, effectively imposing exile on her; and José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), who has repeatedly denounced the persecution, harassment, and restrictions imposed on members of the opposition and independent civil society, and who was ultimately forced into exile.

The current situation in Cuba continues to be marked by the profound social, economic and political crisis.  Constant power outages, which in various regions of the country last more than 20 hours a day, scarcity of food and medicine, the deterioration of public services, and rising poverty have sparked new outbursts of social discontent. Since July 11, thousands of peaceful protests, pot-and-pan demonstrations, and spontaneous rallies in various cities across the country, many of which have been suppressed by the authorities and have led to further arbitrary arrests, acts of intimidation, and arbitrary legal proceedings against protesters. 

Surveillance, intimidation, and criminalization of critical voices and human rights defenders persist, while restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly continue. This is compounded by a context of growing international pressure.

International organizations and members of Cuba’s independent civil society call on the authoritarian regime to fully recognize fundamental rights in Cuba, advance a genuine democratic transition, and initiate a transitional justice process led by an independent mechanism in coordination with independent civil society that guarantees the protection of the Cuban people. We also call for an end to repression, the release of all those arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, and the creation of conditions that allow those living in exile to return to the Island freely, as well as to enter and leave the country without fear of reprisals or arbitrary restrictions.

We call on the Cuban authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts and health condition of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, guarantee respect for their fundamental rights, and proceed with their immediate and unconditional release. Five years after the 11J protests, we reaffirm our commitment to truth, memory, justice, and the defense of human rights in Cuba, as well as our solidarity with the victims of repression and their families.

The following individuals have signed this statement:

  • Asociación Raíces de Esperanza en España.
  • CELIDE
  • Center for a Free Cuba.
  • Ciudadanía y Libertad.
  • Civil Rights Defenders. 
  • Consejería Jurídica e Instrucción Cívica.
  • Consejo para la Transición Democrática en Cuba. 
  • Cubalex.
  • Federación Latinoamericana de Mujeres Rurales (FLAMUR). 
  • Freedom House.
  • International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights 
  • Justicia 11J de Iniciativa para la Investigación y la Incidencia.
  • Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana.
  • Museo de la Disidencia en Cuba.
  • Museo V.
  • Observatorio de Género de Alas Tensas.
  • Organización Arte en Espiral. 
  • PEN/ARC – Artists at Risk Connection.
  • Plataforma Femenina
  • Raíz Colectiva.
  • Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center.

One Year After the Murder of Roberto Samcam: Moving Towards Justice Requires Clarifying the Entire Chain of Responsibilities and Strengthening the Protection of Nicaraguan Opponents in exile

Washington, D.C., June 19, 2026.– On the one-year anniversary of the murder of retired Nicaraguan Army major and Nicaraguan dissident Roberto Samcam, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) honors his memory and reiterates our call for this crime to be fully clarified and punished.

The murder of Samcam, perpetrated on June 19, 2025, in San José, Costa Rica, cannot be understood as an isolated event. His death occurred in a context of systematic persecution against critical voices of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, inside and outside Nicaragua. The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) has documented that this repressive policy transcends national borders through transnational repression practices carried out against exiles and opponents.

In its investigations, the mechanism has identified the participation of state and parastatal structures, as well as operators who coordinate surveillance, intimidation, threats, and reprisals from Nicaragua. The murder of Roberto Samcam takes place in this worrying context, which continues to put at risk the life, integrity and security of Nicaraguans in opposition or considered as such by the Ortega-Murillo regime, who live in exile.

A year after the events, we recognize as a significant advance the decision of the Costa Rican Prosecutor’s Office to present a formal accusation against the people suspected of the murder and request the opening of a trial. This step demonstrates the importance of diligent investigations and the commitment of the authorities to combat impunity in cases involving human rights defenders, political opponents, and exiles. However, the search for justice does not end with the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators.

As Roberto Samcam’s own family has pointed out, truth and justice require the identification and punishment of all those responsible, including those who planned, ordered or facilitated the commission of the crime. The determination of the entire chain of responsibility is essential for Roberto Samcam’s family to receive the justice they deserve, to avoid the repetition of similar events and to guarantee effective protection to Nicaraguans in exile who continue to be persecuted for political reasons in the countries where they sought refuge.

For this reason, we reiterate our call on the Costa Rican authorities to continue advancing in the investigations until all lines of investigation are exhausted and the facts are fully clarified. We also urge States hosting Nicaraguan exiles to strengthen protection mechanisms against the risks associated with transnational persecution.

The international community also cannot ignore the accumulated evidence on the expansion of the repressive practices of the Ortega-Murillo regime outside Nicaragua’s borders. Threats from transnational repression continue to endanger the lives, security and exercise of fundamental rights of those who have sought refuge in other countries. Ensuring the safety of exiles is an urgent obligation and an indispensable component of any effort towards truth, justice and non-repetition.

Today we remember Roberto Samcam, his commitment to democracy and his firm denunciation of human rights violations in Nicaragua. Honoring his memory also implies redoubling efforts so that this crime does not go unpunished and so that no Nicaraguan person is ever persecuted, threatened or killed again for exercising their fundamental rights.

The Long Cuban Night, a documentary on repression in Cuba, premieres Saturday, April 11 at the Miami Film Festival

Washington, D.C., April 7, 2026 – The Long Cuban Night (2026, 100 min.), the first feature-length documentary by Cuban director and sound designer Sergio Fernández Borrás, will have its world premiere at the 43rd Miami Film Festival (MFF), taking place from April 9 to 19. The screening is scheduled for Saturday the 11th at 5:45 p.m. at Silverspot Cinema, Room 13, where it will also compete for the Documentary Achievement Award.

The film arrives at a pivotal moment for Cuba, marked by the intensification of state repression and the deterioration of living conditions on the island. In this context, Race and Equality supported part of the production of this documentary, reaffirming its commitment to the promotion of human rights and freedom of expression. Through a powerful and deeply immersive aesthetic approach, the film constructs a narrative that places surveillance, harassment, and the criminalization of dissent at its center.

Co-produced in Spain (Free Media), Cuba (Uranio Films), and Colombia (Casatarantula), and distributed by Habanero Films, the documentary is built entirely from archival material, including internet livestreams, cellphone recordings, and television broadcasts. Created over four years and conceived entirely in vertical format, the film embraces an aesthetic consistent with the devices used to capture these events, reinforcing its immediacy and testimonial character. This approach allows for the reconstruction, from within and without mediation, of some of the most significant episodes of recent repression in Cuba.

These include the harassment and imprisonment of rapper Denis Solís in 2020; the actions led by artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the San Isidro Movement demanding his release; as well as the police siege against this independent creative space. The documentary also captures the events that followed, including the November 27 protest, the January 27 demonstrations, and the social uprising of July 11, 2021, as well as the arrests of figures such as Otero Alcántara and musician Maykel Osorbo.

Rather than adopting an expository or didactic tone, Fernández Borrás creates a sensory experience that avoids traditional chronology or a historicist recounting of events. The film unfolds as a sequence of fragments that, taken together, reveal the intensity of state surveillance and the fragility of spaces of freedom on the island.

“As a living archive, the film portrays a community of artists, activists, and citizens who decided to say ‘enough’ in the face of abuse of power. More than documenting a conflict, The Long Cuban Night addresses one of the most important moments in Cuba’s recent history: the beginning of a civic awakening marked by dignity, collective strength, and an urgent need for freedom,” said Sergio.

One of the most notable aspects of The Long Cuban Night is its ability to capture the everyday dimension of repression. It is not only about major events, but also about the persistent sense of surveillance, the fear that permeates daily life, and the resistance that emerges within this context. The film thus positions itself at the intersection of political cinema and living archive, where images not only document, but also challenge.

The premiere of The Long Cuban Night at the Miami Film Festival not only represents a milestone for Latin American documentary filmmaking, but also an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced on the island. In a context where censorship and persecution severely restrict the exercise of fundamental freedoms, cinema becomes a powerful tool for memory, denunciation, and justice.

Race and Equality celebrates the screening of this documentary, which portrays repression on the island, a situation that has worsened significantly in recent months due to power outages, shortages of food and medicine, and growing social unrest. From Race and Equality, we will continue to monitor the situation in Cuba and denounce the deep crisis affecting the country, reiterating our call on the international community to maintain attention on Cuba and demand full respect for human rights.



Activists from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela denounce transnational repression in exile before the IACHR

Guatemala City, March 16, 2025. Transnational repression carried out by the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela is a reality. This became evident during the regional hearing “Situation of Transnational Repression,” held last Thursday, March 12, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Guatemala City, within the framework of the 195th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), Cubalex, the Association for Legal Defense, Registry and Memory for Nicaragua, the World Organisation Against Torture, and the Virtual Museum Against Gender-Based Violence in Cuba participated in this space for dialogue, accompanying three activists from these countries who have faced acts of transnational repression in exile: Cuban activist Kirenia Yalit Núñez, director of the Cuban Youth Dialogue Table; Nicaraguan activist Claudia Vargas, widow of activist Roberto Samcam and member of the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress; and Venezuelan activist Luis Peche, director of the organization Sala 58.

During the hearing, they denounced murders, attempted homicides, persecution, and harassment in the countries where they have sought refuge after being forced into exile due to repression by the authoritarian regimes in their countries of origin.

Claudia Vargas warned that the Nicaraguan regime continues to persecute opposition figures even outside its territory. “The regime’s persecution does not end when we cross the border. On the contrary, it transforms, expands, and reaches us even where we seek refuge,” she said. She also denounced the arbitrary deprivation of nationality affecting more than 450 people, which has resulted in the annulment of documents, academic records, pensions, and property.

She also recalled that at least five murders of Nicaraguan opposition figures in exile have already been documented, including the killing of campesino leader Jaime Luis Ortega in Costa Rica in 2024 and that of her husband, Roberto Samcam, a former major in the Nicaraguan Army and political analyst who was murdered in San José in June 2025. “His assassination represented a message directed at the exile community: an attempt to silence us and a demonstration of power beyond borders,” she stated.

“In the face of this serious problem, it is urgent that states in the region, especially host countries, recognize the fight against this form of persecution as part of their international protection obligations,” Vargas added.

For his part, Luis Peche explained that he was forced to leave Venezuela in 2025 following the increase in political persecution after the electoral process. The activist reported that he was the victim of an assassination attempt in Bogotá in October last year, when armed men opened fire on him and on human rights defender Yendri Velásquez. Peche received six gunshot wounds and Velásquez eight. Both survived the attack and are currently out of danger. “This fear is not abstract; it is concrete and persistent. It is part of a regional pattern of transnational repression that seeks to silence those of us who denounce these abuses,” he said.

From Cuba, Kirenia Yalit Núñez denounced that the Cuban regime has developed mechanisms of extraterritorial persecution against activists and journalists in exile. She recounted that she has faced numerous incidents of harassment in different countries, including acts of intimidation, surveillance, and migration-related obstacles. “The Cuban regime projects its intimidation beyond its borders to silence those of us who continue to denounce human rights violations from exile,” she said.

During the hearing, Cuban lawyer Laritza Diversent, director of the organization Cubalex, also participated. She warned that transnational repression seeks to silence critical voices even outside their countries of origin. Diversent urged the IACHR to recognize and systematically monitor this phenomenon, strengthen protection mechanisms for exiled individuals—especially in host countries such as Costa Rica, Colombia, and the United States—and promote coordinated regional responses to the extraterritorial expansion of political persecution.

She also called on the Commission, as it has done in other countries in the region, to establish a specific mechanism to monitor the humanitarian crisis and serious human rights violations in Cuba, in order to document these patterns and strengthen international accountability mechanisms.

During the hearing, the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela participated jointly for the first time. These bodies noted that transnational repression is a real phenomenon affecting opposition figures and human rights defenders from Nicaragua and Venezuela, and emphasized the importance of continuing to investigate and document these patterns of persecution beyond national borders.

Race and Equality will continue to monitor and denounce the human rights violations suffered by activists and defenders from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. We reiterate the need for states in the region to strengthen protection measures for exiled individuals and to ensure effective investigations into acts of transnational persecution, as well as coordinated regional responses to this phenomenon.

Cuba’s independent civil society, ready for a democratic transition

For more than a decade, we have been fortunate to work with Cuba’s independent civil society. We have seen their commitment to human rights, their dedication to documenting the violations that happen in the country, and their courage in exposing them. We have witnessed—through urgent messages and calls that lead to reactions by our legal team—arbitrary detentions, summary trials, surveillance, harassment, raids, forced exile, and, more recently, blackouts and food and medicine shortages. We have also faced our own negative impacts from this work – personal and institutional attacks, as well as skepticism on the part of former allies who have questioned our human rights work in general because of our work exposing the Cuban reality.

As a capacity building organization, we have trained independent activists on and off the Island on civil society engagement with human rights protection mechanisms. Through systematic documentation of human rights violations – analyzed according to the international legal standards to which the Cuban State has adhered – we have supported them to denounce cases of torture, enforced disappearance, censorship, and discrimination before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and United Nations Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures. By advocating for Cuba’s compliance with its international human rights obligations, our partners have been laying the groundwork for democratic transition for years. Their work is not merely opposition; it is preparatory governance.

While Washington and Havana negotiate the future of the island nation, the work, dedication, and perseverance of independent activists, journalists, and artists on the Island and in exile to fight for human rights and promote democratic ideals should not go unrecognized. They are the ones who have been collecting and sharing the evidence of the Cuban regime’s atrocities and this documentation should serve as a key element of any future government transition. While the Cuban government has maintained a monolithic façade, a diverse and resilient independent civil society has been quietly building the architecture of a free society from the ground up. The future of Cuba cannot happen without them.

The international community has recognized that in any transitional justice process, five elements must be considered: truth, justice, memory, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition. It is not possible to achieve any of these without records of what has occurred during the undemocratic era and Cuban human rights defenders have been preparing already, as independent journalists break the state monopoly on information (truth); independent lawyers file habeas petitions before Cuban courts and cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (justice); activists document patterns of abuses committed by State actors (memory); community groups provide aid where the State fails (reparation); and organizations like ours provide the tools to foster civic dialogue and democratic norms (non-repetition).

The most profound preparation lies in the commitment to the historical record. By creating databases of human rights violations and preserving the testimony of victims, independent groups are preventing the “erasure” that often follows authoritarian regimes. They understand that you cannot have justice without a record of the crime, and you cannot guarantee non-repetition if the history of the past is allowed to vanish into state archives. This is not just protest; it is the fundamental administrative labor required to restore the rule of law.

The international community must stop viewing Cuba as a passive recipient of history. The groundwork for a democratic transition—the human capital, the legal theories, and the civic courage—is already in place. The transition will not be a gift from the top down; it will be the formal recognition of a reality that independent civil society has been living for decades. Cubans are not waiting for democracy to be handed to them; they have been building it, brick by brick, in the face of immense adversity. It is time the world starts paying attention to the foundation they have laid.

Statement written by:

Carlos Quesada, Executive Director

Christina M. Fetterhoff, Director of Programs

  • Learn more about our work in Cuba over more than a decade here.



Cuba’s Authoritarian Regime Forces Cuban Activist Leticia Ramos, Member of the Ladies in White, into Exile

Washington, D.C., February 10, 2025 — On Monday, February 9, Cuba’s authoritarian regime barred Cuban activist Leticia Ramos, a member of the Ladies in White movement, from entering the country, forcing her into exile. Ramos traveled from the United States to Cuba, but once there, authorities denied her the right to reunite with her family, withheld her luggage, and ordered her to leave the country, forcing her to return to Miami.

Last January, during an interview with Race and Equality, Ramos expressed her fear that the Cuban regime would deny her return to the Island after traveling to the United States to receive medical treatment, a systematic practice used to silence, punish, and force activists into exile. That fear became a reality yesterday. From the Institute, we are accompanying her and have assumed her legal representation in this process, just as we have provided ongoing support to the members of the Ladies in White before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which since October 2013 has granted precautionary measures “to preserve the life and personal integrity” of the women who make up the collective.

Between Resistance and Repression

Leticia Ramos has been a member of the Ladies in White since 2004, when she joined as a supporting member, accompanying women whose relatives were imprisoned during the Black Spring of 2003. Since then, she has consistently taken part in peaceful actions—such as attending Mass dressed in white and carrying flowers—to demand the release of individuals imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba.

Following the death under “suspicious circumstances” of Laura Pollán, founder of the movement, in 2011, Leticia was elected coordinator of the Ladies in White group in the province of Matanzas. From that point on, state harassment intensified, including beatings, threats, constant surveillance, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on her right to freedom of movement. For nearly nine years, she was subjected to travel restrictions and barred from leaving the country.

Reprisals also extended to her family. Ramos is the mother of two children: one who resides in the United States, and another, Randy Montes de Oca Ramos, who lives in Cuba and has been subjected to persecution, detentions, and criminal proceedings based on false charges, as a means of pressuring his mother to abandon her activism. In 2018, Randy served a six-month sentence of house arrest following public protests carried out by Leticia.

Between 2013 and 2018, Ramos was detained on numerous occasions, at times being deprived of her liberty up to four times in a single week. She attempted to document these acts of repression, but the information was lost following raids on her home in 2016, 2018, and 2019, during which state agents confiscated work materials, electronic devices, and items linked to her activism.

During the protests of July 11, 2021, Leticia decided to demonstrate in Cárdenas despite her family facing a severe case of COVID-19. In that context, she recalled that it was possible to perceive “the regime’s fear in the face of an unarmed people, but one determined to achieve its freedom.”

The forced exile of Leticia Ramos is part of a broader pattern of repressive practices used by the Cuban regime to punish human rights defenders through forced exile, family separation, and constant intimidation.

At Race and Equality, we recognize the trajectory, courage, and resilience of Leticia Ramos, and we reiterate our commitment to accompany her and to denounce this serious violation of her human rights, as well as the broader strategy of silencing activists in Cuba.



Freedom with exile: the case of Cuban activist Aymara Nieto

Washington, D.C., November 11, 2025 – Three months ago today, Aymara Nieto Muñoz began rebuilding her life in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she has been living since August 11, 2025, after being released and exiled along with her husband, Ismael Boris, and two of her daughters. After more than seven years of political imprisonment in Cuba, the 49-year-old activist, a member of the Ladies in White and the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), is trying to adapt to a new reality far from the island.

“We have been very well received in Santo Domingo. I am very grateful. We (Aymara and her family) have already done a series of interviews to regularize our immigration status and be able to work. My daughters are already in school, thanks to the support of the Cuban Association in the Dominican Republic and the government of this country,“ says Nieto, who retains the optimism and faith that accompanied her during the hardest years of her imprisonment. ”My greatest treasure in prison was a Bible that my eldest daughter gave me. It gave me the strength to endure,” she confesses.

Aymara was arrested on May 6, 2018, as she was leaving her home to participate in a peaceful demonstration organized by the Todos Marchamos campaign, which demanded the release of people imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba. She was convicted of the alleged crimes of assault and damage to property and sentenced to four years in prison, which she began serving in the El Guatao women’s prison in Havana.

However, while she was serving that sentence, the authoritarian Cuban regime prosecuted her again, this time for allegedly leading a riot inside the prison. The new trial ended with a second sentence of five years and four months, imposed without judicial guarantees or the right to an effective defense. Thus, Aymara spent more than seven consecutive years in prison, enduring punishments, transfers, and degrading conditions.

Since 2013, Aymara Nieto has been the beneficiary of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). At Race and Equality, we have consistently denounced the violations of her rights and the inhumane conditions of her imprisonment. Her story is part of the report “Voices in Freedom: Women Political Prisoners in Cuba” and the documentary “Dos Patrias” (Two Homelands), produced in collaboration with Producciones La Tiorba, which portrays the repression, imprisonment, and silencing of three Cuban activists.

From her new place of residence, where she arrived without being able to say goodbye to her eldest daughter because the authorities denied her a final visit, Aymara dreams of studying psychology. “I would like to be a psychologist and help other people. I also want my daughters to be good women,“ she adds. Although she is far from the island, she remains committed to the peaceful struggle. ”The situation in my country hurts me deeply, but I will continue working and fighting for Cuba’s freedom, even from a distance,” she says. 

The Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights celebrates Aymara Nieto’s freedom and recognizes her strength and dignity after years of repression. At the same time, we condemn her forced exile, a systematic practice of the Cuban regime to punish dissent and silence voices that defend human rights.

We demand that the Cuban government put an end to these practices that violate international law, and we call on international organizations and democratic states to demand respect for human rights in Cuba, including the immediate and unconditional release of Sissi Abascal, Felix Navarro, Saylí Navarro, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Lisandra Góngora, Maykel Castillo, and all those still imprisoned for political reasons.



“The struggle continues inside and outside Cuba”: José Daniel Ferrer, after his forced exile in the US

Washington D.C., October 16, 2025 – That was one of the statements made by José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), after arriving in Miami, United States, together with his wife, the doctor and activist Nelva Ortega, and three of his children, after being forced into exile. Ferrer’s departure was officially announced by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, which specified that his transfer, along with his family, was the result of a “formal request” from the U.S. government and the “express acceptance” of the Cuban activist. 

The human rights defender, who regained his freedom on Monday, October 13, said he had “mixed emotions” as he celebrated his reunion with part of his family, but lamented the situation of dozens of activists who remain imprisoned in Cuba. “It is a very difficult and sad moment because there are other brothers and sisters in Cuba who are surviving in terrible conditions in the worst prisons in the Western Hemisphere: Félix Navarro, Saylí Navarro, Sissi Abascal, Luis Manuel Otero, Maykel Castillo, Lisandra Góngora; there are many throughout the country,” he said.

Ferrer, 55, is one of Cuba’s most renowned activists. He was one of the 75 prisoners of conscience convicted during the Black Spring of 2003 and, since then, has been subjected to repeated arrests, torture, and arbitrary judicial proceedings. He participated in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021, after which he was arbitrarily detained and, in January of this year, released on parole. However, on April 29, 2025, he was again imprisoned in Mar Verde prison, where he reported beatings, torture, and threats against his family.

In a letter written from that prison and released on October 3, Ferrer warned that he was at the limit of what he could endure and that he was willing to accept forced exile to protect his life and that of his family. At Race and Equality, we have repeatedly denounced the serious violations of his human rights and the inhumane conditions of his imprisonment to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as his legal representatives, reason why he is the beneficiary of protective measures.

We celebrate that José Daniel Ferrer and his family are safe today, but we condemn that his freedom was dependent upon forced exile, a practice that violates fundamental rights and that the Cuban state has used to silence critical voices. This same strategy was recently imposed on activist Aymara Nieto, a member of the Ladies in White, who was released in August 2025 on the condition that she leave the island. At Race and Equality, we reiterate our commitment to defending those persecuted for political reasons in Cuba and call on the international community to demand an end to repression, arbitrary imprisonment, and the forced exile of Cuban dissidents.

We condemn the attack against Venezuelan human rights defenders Yendri Velásquez and Luis Peche, an example of transnational repression

Bogotá, October 14, 2025 – On Monday, October 13, 2025, Venezuelan activists Yendri Velásquez and Luis Alejandro Peche were victims of a shooting in northern Bogotá. Both were wounded in the legs and are recovering and out of danger. According to official information, three armed men intercepted them and shot them repeatedly before fleeing the scene. The Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race and Equality) strongly condemns this attack, which represents a new case of transnational repression, a form of political persecution that seeks to silence those who defend human rights even beyond their borders.  

“We are alarmed by the growth of transnational repression in Latin America: a practice that seeks to punish activism and silence critical voices, even in exile. This attack against Yendri and Luis violates not only their right to life, but also the collective right to defend human rights,” said Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.  

Yendri Omar Velásquez Rodríguez is a renowned Venezuelan LGBTIQ+ advocate and founder of the Venezuelan Observatory of LGBTIQ+ Violence. In 2024, he received the Human Rights and Rule of Law Award from the French and German embassies; but that same year, in August, he was the victim of state persecution when he was preparing to travel to Geneva to participate in a session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. He was arbitrarily detained at Maiquetía airport and his passport was revoked. Weeks later, he was forced into exile in Colombia.

Luis Alejandro Peche Arteaga, 34, is an internationalist and political consultant. He was an advisor to the Venezuelan National Assembly between 2017 and 2018, during the opposition’s parliamentary presidency, and collaborated with citizen participation organizations such as Voto Joven. In 2025, he left Caracas after receiving threats.  

This attack is part of a pattern of transnational violence that is becoming increasingly visible in the region. In June 2025, Race and Equality condemned the murder of retired Nicaraguan Army Major Roberto Samcam in San José, Costa Rica, an event that demonstrated that the persecution of critical and opposition voices transcends national borders.  

Urgent call to the Colombian State 

In this context, Race and Equality urgently and respectfully calls on the Colombian State to adopt immediate and effective protection measures, through the National Protection Unit, in order to safeguard the lives, integrity, and safety of Yendri Velásquez, Luis Peche, and their families. It also urges the Attorney General’s Office to conduct a prompt, thorough, and expeditious investigation to identify those responsible for planning and carrying out the attack and to ensure that there is no impunity.  

Similarly, it calls on the authorities to coordinate actions with international organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), with the aim of strengthening the institutional response and providing specialized support.  

Race and Equality also calls on the State to strengthen national protection policies for defenders, journalists, and social leaders, incorporating an intersectional, differential, and gender-based approach that recognizes the multiple vulnerabilities faced by migrant and LGBTIQ+ defenders. 

Finally, we urge the international community, social organizations, and civil society not to remain silent in the face of these events. We strongly condemn expressions of transnational repression in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we reaffirm our commitment to accompany and stand in solidarity with the victims of these acts of violence.  

Protecting the lives of those who defend human rights is a collective commitment and a universal ethical obligation. Defending rights cannot continue to be a risk that is paid for with one’s life. Colombia and the entire region must be territories of refuge and hope, not spaces where fear and persecution are prolonged. 

 

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